I suck in a deep breath and then let it out slowly. I am ready for this. It isn’t even anything serious anyways, just a nice research study. I act as if I am in school, working on a project with my crush. Get a hold of yourself, Alice. I know what it is I am looking for, and that is it.
When I begin to hear people come walking down the halls away from the dinner table, I know it is time for me to go. My hands stop shaking and I feel very confident with myself.
I slowly walk out of my room, gently shutting the door behind me. Since Will’s room is right next to mine, a few steps can get me there easily. In my head, I regret having a room so close to his. His door is closed and I am scared that he isn’t even in his room yet. I raise my left fist and gently knock on the grey wooden door.
“Come on in,” Will’s dashing voice rings from inside.
I smile; he is just waiting for me. This is it; get your ass in there, Alice! I open the door and stride inside with pure confidence radiating off of me.
A gasp escapes from my lips at the shocking sight before me. Will stands next to his bed with no shirt on. I mean, he looks breathtaking, and my face is beat red from blushing. He has perfect abs and his jeans are right at his v-line. He is holding a black shirt in his right hand and in his left hand are some bandages.
On his back, there are whip marks all over him, just like the ones I saw on his forearms. I frown at his scars, but I move my gaze away to not make him uncomfortable.
Once my eyes meet Will’s, I see that he is smirking at my reaction. “Shut your mouth, princess. You don’t want any flies to get in there, now do you?” He teases.
I force myself not to glance anywhere but his face. When I see the look he is giving me I roll my eyes and regain my regal posture. “You took me by surprise, that’s all.” I retort while crossing my arms over my chest. I can feel my beating heart, like it is about to explode.
“Of course, princess.” He pulls his shirt over his head and smirks at me once more, “Are you ready to begin?”
I nod, “You only have that one journal, right?”
Will nods, “Yes, but it is huge.” He struts to a drawer and pulls out a thick, worn – out journal. He hands it to me saying, “Be careful, it can fall apart at any second.”
I accept the book and I sit down on his bed. “I can see why,” I mutter. The pages seem to have been through many hardships. The book itself looks as if it has been burnt, dropped in water, thrown into a tornado, and then burnt again. The cover is leather, but an old fashion kind of style.
I open the book to see neat, cursive handwriting on every page. “Your father had great hand writing,” I chuckle.
Will slightly smiles next to me and says, “He adopted me. I had two fathers.”
I look at him with a slight cock of my head, “Do you know who your real parents are?”
He shakes his head, “All that I know is that my real parents’ last name is ‘Harris’.”
I nod and keep on skimming through the pages. “Rosemarie Swan, who do you think she is?”
Will shrugs, but has a small smile on his face, “Keep looking and you just might find out.”
I am pretty sure he knows, but wants me to find out for myself. So I nod and keep on looking. Other names are mentioned, I find out who Will’s grandparents are.
Then I see the name Nico Lee. Lee is my last name. I suck in a deep breath. “My father was best-friends with your father,” I breathe.
Will smiles and waves his hand for me to keep going.
I keep on turning the pages to find the name Rosemarie Swan once more. I see that my father took a liking to her, but she avoided him. Mary Lovewood was apparently the person who they were trying to get away from; she was trying to kill them. Still so many questions run loose through my mind. This isn’t exactly helping me!
“Did you find anything useful?” Will asks softly.
I shake my head and hand him back the journal. “Thanks, Will. But I don’t think this going to help,” I say with an annoyed tone.
Will grabs my hand and says softly, “You’re missing the most important details, princess.” He lets go of my hand and flips through the book, “One, Rosemarie Swan married Nico Lee and gave birth to you. Two, Robin Harris-your mothers first love interest- is my father. Three, my adopted father- Felix Bones- married Tony Crawford, who grew up with your mother. This all happened before the nuclear bomb threat in Washington, but a few years after the lab explosion in Texas. There is some other weird stuff in here that I don’t really understand that has to do with your mother. My father wrote that she died.”
“Died? When?” I ask.
“Let’s just say a long time before the car accident your mother died and came back to life with a few…changes. Some pages are ripped out so I don’t exactly know what changed,” He explains.
I stare at him in disturbance. He figured all that out because of this old journal? “Will, it is great that you found all of that out and all, but that still doesn’t answer any of my questions!”
Will grins, “Check this out.” He flips through some pages and hands it back to me, “Read what you see out loud.”
I sigh and take the book back into my hands. Looking at the beautiful handwriting, I read the journal entry out loud:
“Today might have been the most eventful day we’ve had in months. That girl, Rose that I spoke of, just happens to be one of us. She was at the lab in Dallas with Nico and I. But what I don’t understand is: why? I remember every face and every name that I encountered, but for some reason, I never saw her. I remember other scientist spoke of a girl who made fake IDs to get into the lab. That must have been her. She has grey ribbon tattoos instead of black. The other ribbons had blue with gold patterns. There is something different about her that I can’t just put my finger on. All I really know is that Nico has grown a liking to her, and I just want him to be happy. She avoids us, mostly him, but I can tell that she has emotions. She is a girl after all. I hope she can stay with us so we can all get rid of this burden that ways our shoulders down.
- Felix”
I finish the paper and look at Will. “This… This explains that one question. My parents were Conduits. It is better than nothing! Thank you so much, Will!” I move the book to the other side of me and I wrap my arms around Will’s neck.
This time, he doesn’t hesitate to hug me back. He pulls away and says, “No problem, princess. I’m glad you got that answer.”
I have a glowing smile on my face as I wonder out loud, “What about Eric? Can he have become a Conduit too?”
Will shrugs and replies, “Maybe if you touch him the same might happen to him. Just wait till we do that rebellion.”
The smile on my face suddenly falls to a frown. “Will-”
He raises his hand and cuts me off, “Um no, princess. We already decided and everyone is ready to get going. Don’t let us down now. Don’t you dare.”
I smile sadly, “I have no experience for leading anyone. That trait is actually more in Eric’s personality.”
“You don’t need any experience, princess. Besides, Red and I will be at your side,” Will says with a big smile, “Isn’t that all you really need?”
I glance down at my hands and say sadly, “No. I have no idea how to lead a group of people! If Eric was with me, this would be easier. You and Red, along with every other Conduit, are very helpful, but I am only here for Eric.”
He shakes his head and it becomes silent, but then he breaks the tension by saying quietly, “you’re sometimes extremely ridiculous with that whole can’t-do-anything-without-Eric thing.”
“I can’t really help it, Will,” I say, “he practically raised me.”
Will shrugs and let’s out a sigh.
I shuffle on the bed and break the silence. “Alright, when do we start?”
He gives me a killer smile, “Like a couple of days, maybe tomorrow. We leave at 3:00 AM.”
My cheeks are red from his beautiful smile, but my mouth is in a firm
line. “Why so freaking early?” I ask.
“Wow, first you blush all over then you get upset all over, but you are still blushing! It is just so cute,” Will speaks in between laughs, and by the end he gently brushes his thumb and index finger against my chin.
I sit there dumbfounded. My heart is racing at his gentle touch and my body becomes hot, even though I am hugging myself from his cold room. Suddenly it hit me that he just called me cute. “Did you just call me cute?” I ask.
Now, for the first time, I see Will get nervous. But it is only for a split second. He replies with a grin, “Yeah, that is what I said, princess.” He lets out his amazing laugh and he continues on, “You might want to get to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”
I nod and say with a sarcastic tone, “Thanks, I can’t wait.” I stand up and get ready to leave, but Will grabs my hand. He spins me around as he gets up to his feet. My hands are pressed against his sturdy chest and he has his left hand around my waist.
His right hand is cupping my face, while his thumb caresses my cheek.
I have never been like this with anyone before; I don’t know what to do next. I stare into his eyes and cannot look away. My heart is banging against my rib cage and my hands are shaking. He glances at my lips, and starts to lean forward. He is about to kiss me. I can’t! Not now, later! I have too much on my mind.
I reluctantly pull away, “Will, I can’t I’m sorry.” I walk to the door, with my hands shaking. My heart aches; I want to be close to him like I just was. The closeness was just so comfortable, I feel like I could stand in that position for days.
Will stands there and nods, “I’m sorry, too.”
I smile and feel my legs starting to shake. I remember that I felt exactly like this after my parents died and when I went to my first day of school. Now that it hit me that the rebellion really is tomorrow, and that Will almost kissed me, is driving me insane. I rub my forehead with my palm.
Will seems to notice, “Are you all right?” He asks. His hand is slightly outstretched towards me. I nod my head and wave my right hand at him. “It’s fine!”
“Uh no… it’s not! You are about to collapse,” Will catches me right before I fall to the ground. He is holding me close to his chest and I can feel myself starting to blush once more.
“Uh thanks. You can put me down now.” My hands are on his chest, and our faces are right next to each other once more.
Will gazes right at my lips and grins. “Were you about to faint?” I frown at him and argue, “I was not.”
He laughs and gently sets me on my feet. I keep my hands on his chest and his stay on around my waist. “Will, can I ask you something?” I ask slowly. I keep on seeing the whip marks, and I want to know why they are there.
“Of course.” He doesn’t move from his position as he speaks.
I gulp down a fear of him ignoring the question but I ask anyways, “Why do you have whip marks on your body?”
At first it seemed as if Will took his time to process the question. He lets go of me and sits on the bed. I sit down next to him; I don’t want to sit too close that he will feel uncomfortable. I want to reach out and touch him. Or just lay next to him. I want to hold him. Stop it, Alice!
“When I was younger I went to a boarding school after my parents died. I was alone one night in Jacksonville, Florida where I was sent and I got kidnapped. I was raised by Conduits and whenever I did something wrong, I got slashed,” He shrugs at the end like it wasn’t such a big deal.
I stare at him shocked of his story as a sad feeling sweeps through me. Looking at him and just thinking about what could have happened to him when he is just a little kid. “Will, I’m-” I begin to say quickly.
“Don’t apologize for something you didn’t do,” He interrupts me with a soft voice. Will smiles and stands up, “You should go to bed now.”
I stay sitting for a moment before grabbing his hand and pulling him back down. Will has a confused look on his face and I smile. I let out a deep breath of nervousness and I press my lips against his. Will automatically wraps his right arm around my waist and his left hand cups my face. I have my hands on his chest and I grip onto his black shirt.
My left hand slips up his chest and through his hair. A small moan escapes from the back of his throat. Will lets one hand slide up my torso and gently touches my neck. I pull away and suck in a deep breath. Will kisses my cheek softly and whispers, “I wasn’t expecting that.”
I grin and reply, “Neither was I.”
Will laughs and strokes my cheek. He leans forward and gently kisses my neck. My body shakes and he laughs. “You’re very ticklish,” Will whispers in my ear.
I playfully smack his arm and say, “I am not! This is just very new to me so it feels weird.”
He laughs and asks, “This is new to you?”
My cheeks flush as I nod slightly, now filled with embarrassment. “I’ve never really had any friends, so I never got to the step of… This,” I explain quietly.
Will pushes a strand of my hair behind my ear and asks, “Alice, do you believe in love at first sight?” I cock my head to the side, slightly confused at the random question. “Well, I don’t know. I remember when I was younger I would tell Eric that I was in love with someone I made eye contact with, but then he would laugh and tell me that love takes time, not just a quick glance in your direction. So, I don’t know if I really believe in that,” I answer with a shrug of my shoulders.
He falls back on his bed and sighs while staring up at the ceiling. “I was in love once. In one quick glance, I knew I loved her,” He says quietly.
I fall back to the bed next to him and ask, “Who was she?”
Will turns and looks at me. “May. She was a Conduit like us, and she was…” Will paused to take a moment. I saw a tear glint in his eye. He was trying to collect the words to describe it all. He only came up with one word “…shot.” As he said it, his face expression showed that she was far more than just shot.
I frown and put my hand over his, “I’m sorry.”
He turns back to the ceiling, and for a moment we lay side-by- side quietly. Soon enough, he asks quietly, “Do you think fish get thirsty?”
I turn and look at him with total confusion plastered on my face. “What kind of a question is that?” I ask while laughing.
Will shrugs and says, “It is an honest question! I mean can fish really get thirsty?” I laugh loudly again at his seriousness and say, “Well, they do live underwater so if they actually are to drink water, then I don’t think so. But, I don’t think fish drink either.”
Will turns to me, and laughs, “I didn’t expect you to answer that.”
I laugh again, and suddenly something bangs against the door. Will shoots up in surprise and shouts, “Hey, what’s your problem?”
“Can you please keep it down? Some people are trying to sleep!” A female voice screeches from the other side of the door. I cover my mouth to keep the laughter at bay and Will rolls his eyes at the door. He turns back to me, and chuckles quietly.
I smile and say, “I should go now.” Will nods and kisses my forehead softly. My heart flutters and I give him a small I stand from where I sit and give him one last look before I exit and walk into my room. I can feel my heart flutter again as I fall onto my bed. I automatically fall asleep and no anxiety or nervousness torments me on this peaceful night.
Attack on Captain
This is it. This is the end.
I am leading the rebellion of approximately less than 1,000 ChemiTerrorists to wage a war against the government. With Will on my right, and Red on my left, we know this is the day we were all trained for. And I am the leader. I let my mind drift off, thinking of where this all began. Eric. The love I have for my brother drove me to this point. This love let me trust Will, and let our relationship be more than friendship. This love led me to accept Red, even after all of her great sins of murder. This love has led me to save all of New York’s ChemiTerrorists. Eric thi
s is for you. I will save you and you will come out of this alive. You will not die today, I will not fail you, I promise.
This morning was quite frantic. Everyone was trying their best to get as much sleep as possible. Some even got up extra early to get in some last minute practice. I, on the other hand, had an amazing sleep, and I was hoping to stay in bed till at least noon. But, Will came pounding on my door and my nervousness began. Will wasn’t lying when he said about waking up really early. By 6:00 AM, we were gathering at the edge of the Bronx’s limits. When I arrived, everyone had already been waiting for me to climb over. Once I did, everyone followed suit.
Soon enough we had begun our journey to the C.T.O. base, which lies a mile away from New York’s state limits. I had hoped that our traveling would be easy and we could start attacking by noon, but instead Red had suggested we travel through the dark and muggy woods so no one would see us. The trees happened to be very close together and Red used her powers to create a very low, heavily condensed fog until sundown. Since it was very hard to see, we got lost several times so we had to wait while a group of Conduits climbed the highest trees to find the base.
We stopped three times to rest and get some sleep, so a lot of us became very crabby. My hair was also ruined from the humidity.
It is now 11:30 PM and we are now far beyond the gates of the city so no one will ever see us. In the front, Will, Red, and I, are leading the group to our final destination. Behind us are all of the Conduits, armed with many guns and ammo, along with C4 and makeshift bombs. We decided that yes, we will use our powers, but our energy can easily run out if pushed to the limit. Since it is close to midnight, the forest has become very dark, so Red used her powers again to push it away.
Above us, in the trees, are scouts looking ahead, just in case we get lost again.
Letting out a deep breath, I try to keep my heart from jumping out of my ribcage. My heart is pounding so hard that I can almost feel it in my toes. I am wearing black clothes to blend in with the environment, but I wear the jacket that I had taken from Eric’s room after he was taken. On the jacket are pins he had collected over the past few years. The pins give me a reassuring feeling that Eric is right beside me, with his hand on my arm, leading me. I suddenly get taken out of my thoughts when Will takes my hand.
Alice: The Leader Page 12