Flint leaned forward. “So how do you know this house of yours is safe?” Sunlight glinted off Flint’s chestnut brown hair, making it appear streaked with gold.
“I know it’s safe because I purchased it a month ago, under one of my aliases. The only person who knows I own it is–”
“Let me guess,” Mica cut in. “Your lawyer?”
Conroy nodded. “Exactly.”
“Humph.” Mica cocked an eyebrow. “I still can’t believe everything we’ve learned. It’s kinda crazy you know.”
“Which part?” I asked. “Where O’Brien Pharmaceuticals stole us off the streets when we were babies from our drug addicted, prostituting parents or how O’Brien kept us locked up while we were experimented on?”
Mica chuckled as a strong push of energy hit me. Flint’s jaw tightened. A muscle clenched and unclenched in his jaw. I laid my hand on his thigh. His warmth seared through his jeans. Right. Maybe it was a little too early to joke about that stuff.
“When you put it like that, it sounds rather barbaric,” Conroy said.
“How could you ever think it wasn’t barbaric?” Mica asked.
Conroy sighed. His hands tightened around the steering wheel again as we sailed around a turn. “If you could have seen the conditions in which you were born.” He stopped. “I’m not saying it justifies what we did, I see that now, but at the time, I was young and hopeful. I’d been passionate about science since I was a boy. The possibilities of untapped chemical creations fascinated me. You have to understand, I was very young when I joined O’Brien. I was naïve and blinded by my ambitions to better the world. At the time, I truly felt like I was doing the right thing. I thought I was helping all of you. That I was making your lives better.”
Mica cocked her head. “I know I just met you, so I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I believe you.”
“I do too,” I said.
Conroy’s hands relaxed. A smile lifted his cheeks.
“Well I don’t believe you,” Flint muttered. He still stared out the window.
Conroy’s gaze drifted to Flint in the rearview mirror. His smile dimmed.
If only Flint could feel what I did. I switched my vision. Conroy’s cloud appeared. The beautiful rainbow of dancing colors billowed around his shoulders. It was unlike anything I’d seen before. Some of the colors mirrored all eight of ours: red, pink, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet and gold. However, other colors mixed in it too: magenta, silver, navy and at least a dozen more. All of Conroy’s colors were faint, like they’d been washed out, except for two bright colors: blue and pale green. The blue matched the blue in our clouds. However, none of us had pale green.
As always, I couldn’t explain why we had colors or get a firm read on Conroy’s cloud. The rest of the population had some form of white, gray or black. The whiter the cloud, the more kind a person was, the darker, the more evil. Nobody else had colorful clouds. And as for why Conroy had so many colors, and some that matched ours, I had no idea.
However, my gut told me Conroy wouldn’t harm us. And if there was one thing I always listened to – it was my gut instinct.
“So how’d you make the memory drug you gave us in April?” Mica asked.
“It was something I created last year, in the lab back home,” Conroy replied.
By home, I assumed he meant the hidden cabin we’d left in the Forbidden Hills.
“Right, but how did it work?” Mica persisted.
“The drug targeted specific cells in your brains. Upon reaching those targeted cells, it severed all neuronal activity to your long-term memories. Basically, your memories are still there. However, you don’t have access to them.”
“They’re still there?” I sat up straighter.
“Yes.”
I wondered how he knew that. “So this drug must be different from the one you gave us as babies?”
“It’s much safer. Age doesn’t affect it.”
That comment reminded me of the two oldest children in our original group of ten. The two children that I’d never met since they died from the drug Conroy administered to them. I swallowed uneasily. If I’d been older when he gave me my drug, I could have died too. Luckily, I was only a few months old when he stole me, plenty young for my brain to adapt.
Mica squirmed in her seat. “I still gotta go to the bathroom, you know. How much longer?”
“Just ahead.” Conroy put his blinker on and glided the Pathfinder off the interstate. I glanced behind us. Sure enough, Di followed.
“I gotta go!” Mica squealed. She bounded out of her seat the second we pulled into the gas station.
Conroy stepped out and followed Mica. Cool air swirled into the car before he slammed his door. I unbuckled my seat belt, but Flint made no move to leave.
“We better get to the bathroom.” I opened my door.
It’d been a long day of driving. Conroy’s original plan had been to helicopter us straight to his reclusive Arizona home, but after a brief discussion, it was decided none of us wanted to leave the Suburban behind. Call us sentimental, but when your life is as erratic as ours, familiar things have greater meaning. However, none of us considered what keeping the Suburban entailed. That sentimentality had resulted in a nine hour drive. It also meant Conroy had to purchase a vehicle since nine of us in the Suburban was too crowded.
“Who knows when the next stop will be,” I added.
Flint grabbed my hand before I could step out. His sudden grip made the charm bracelet I wore jingle quietly. The charm – a heart with an inscription reading Love You Forever glinted.
“Lena, we don’t have to go with Conroy. You know that, right?” Flint said quietly.
The urgency in his voice made my stomach sink. I settled back beside him. A strong gust swirled into the car from my still open door. It whipped my long red hair around my face. I tucked a strand behind my ear.
“I think we should,” I replied.
“But we don’t know if we can trust him.”
He gripped my hand tighter. His palm was so warm. Another steady push of energy rolled off him.
Feeling Flint’s energy was something I’d grown used to during the past two months. For some reason, the power inside him radiated out. It was hard to miss, at least for me. The drug Conroy gave me as a child resulted in my unique ability. I saw auras around people, or clouds as I called them. It told me if a person was good or bad. However, it went a step beyond that with Flint. I could also feel his. When he was angry, aroused or felt any other strong emotion, the power rolling off him increased. The strength of it right now was enough to tell me he was very serious about ditching Conroy.
I slammed my door closed. Jacinda and the rest of the gang were getting out of the Suburban. I knew none of them would be able to hear us, except Jacinda that is, thanks to her enhanced auditory sense.
“We can’t leave Conroy.”
“Why not?” Flint demanded.
I clasped his hand in mine. His palm was calloused and rough. “I know you don’t believe it, but I know that Conroy would never hurt us. Just like I knew when we first met in August that you’d never let anyone hurt me. Those gut feelings we’ve all had about things? They’re our subconscious trying to break through. Don’t you see that?”
He gazed out the window, his expression brooding. “Then why don’t I trust him?”
I swallowed uneasily. That’s a very good question. “I don’t know.”
A sharp knock on the window made me jump. Jet and Jasper’s faces plastered against it. “Hey love birds, you two coming in?” Jasper called.
I forced a smile. “Let’s go.”
With stiff movements, Flint opened his door and stepped out.
The twins had already sauntered away. Laughter trailed in their wakes. As usual, their jokes prevailed, even in our current circumstances.
I inhaled the evening air. Already, it had cooled. Flat desert landscape surrounded us. The sky blazed purple from the setting sun. Distant mountains shown
on the horizon, hinting at colder temps to come.
“Chilly here.” I shivered.
Flint reached inside the vehicle and grabbed his jacket. He slipped it around my shoulders before I could protest. The parka practically swallowed me.
Flint leaned down and kissed me softly on the neck. His lips lingered. Another push of energy rolled into me. Worry lined its edges.
“Are you two coming?” Jacinda stood by the door to the gas station. Her long blond hair trailed down her back. I hadn’t realized she was waiting for us.
“Come on.” I tugged Flint.
We walked across the parking lot, our footsteps slapping the pavement. Flint glanced over his shoulder several times. Our needing to be cautious in public was another thing I didn’t want to think about.
Jacinda’s gaze followed Flint’s. Both now surveyed our surroundings. Jacinda’s full lips tensed and her eyes narrowed. When she caught me watching her, she shook her head and smiled.
“How has it been riding with Conroy?” she asked.
“Good.” I had to look up to address her. It still amazed me that we were half-sisters. I figured our fathers must have been complete opposites. Hers a Norwegian Viking and mine an Irish midget. “Interesting too. Conroy’s been telling us about the drug he gave us. It targeted our long term memories.”
“Is that right?” Jacinda cocked her head. Some of the tenseness left her mouth. Flint held the door as we walked in. A large shelf of candy bars greeted us the second we stepped inside. I eyed the Snickers with interest but Jacinda steered me away.
The travel center was large and clean. Scents of hot dogs and nacho cheese drifted in the air when we walked by the food station. Navajo art and souvenirs hung on display throughout the aisles. Halloween decorations draped from the ceiling. One ghastly ghoul looked particularly disturbing with its black, vacant eyes and open tooth filled mouth. The normalcy of this lone travel stop was exactly what I needed.
Some of the nerves left my stomach as Jacinda pulled me to the back of the gas station. An array of sandwiches lined the refrigerated section. They beckoned to me. Even though I’d been well fed for the past two months, my days as a homeless vagabond when food was precious, still lingered.
“Bathroom first.” Jacinda rolled her eyes.
I grumbled but followed.
When we stood at the sinks, washing our hands, I asked, “How long do you think it’ll be before we leave for Chicago?”
Jacinda’s hands stilled on her paper towel. With a start, she resumed drying them. “We’ll have to see what Conroy discovers about his old group. It would be foolish to leave immediately.”
“Jacinda! Lena!” The bathroom door banged open.
Di stood in the doorway. She wore her usual all black attire which mirrored her midnight hair and dark eyes. “Come on, we’re leaving.”
“Already?” I asked. “But we’ve only been here five minutes, and we haven’t bought anything to eat.”
“Then hurry up.” She glanced over her shoulder before stepping into the restroom. The door closed softly behind her. Looking past us, her eyes darted to the empty stalls. She lowered her voice. “Is anyone else in here?”
Jacinda tossed her paper towel into the garbage. “No, just us.”
“Good,” Di said. “Because we need to get moving.”
A moment of alarm passed through me. “Why? Did something happen? Did someone spot us?”
Di shook her head curtly, her short hair swaying with the movement. “No, but Conroy has something for us at his house. He just told me about it.”
I gave Jacinda a questioning look.
Jacinda merely raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “This is news to me too.”
“What is it?” I asked Di.
Di smiled. Her eyes carried the manic gleam I was becoming to recognize all too well. “Another drug he wants to give us, but this drug will make us remember.”
Forgotten (The Lost Children Trilogy Book 1) Page 28