As my eyes drifted closed and the darkness took me over, he leaned forward and dimmed the lights. All I could see when I closed them was the soft, ocean blue that I would come to associate with evil.
Chapter 27
I slept like the dead that night, waking to find that Ryder was no longer at my bedside, but standing directly outside of the doors in his usual stance. Doctor Aserov had come in to check my vitals, and in an extremely subtle way, had let me know that she had altered the recording of them from my time in the room of many bodies last night.
It was all still too much for me to take in, to wrap my head around. Doctor Aserov checked my stitches. According to her, they looked great, so I was free to go back to my cabin where I could finally solve the mystery of my mother’s involvement in the entire scenario I found myself in. Well, the place where fate saw fit to put me.
My palm was sweating around the necklace as I was led silently by Ryder back to my temporary home, walking behind him as it should be in the eyes of those running the compound. I wouldn’t be there for much longer. We were all waiting for the signal. Whatever that would be.
I was sitting on the bathroom floor with legs crossed, staring at the wafer-thin pendant between my fingers. The chain dangled down and stopped mid forearm. It was long, light and thin, so it could be easily hidden underneath my shirt, and the pendant could rest comfortably at my breastbone. It would be perfectly concealed in its small cave of protection. The only time it would be seen was if my shirt came off for whatever reason.
There was a message from my mother inside of the small orb at its center, surrounded by the sun etched into the thin silver, the blackened marks in contrast with the silver of the metal. The soft blue lights along the ceiling and floor were reflecting off its surface, turning the smooth ball into a shrunken sky. I had dimmed them just enough so I could still see.
The only way to activate the message hidden away inside of it was to put it on, so it could match my DNA and begin to play. I wasn’t sure of the delivery system, whether it be audio or hologram, but I was anxious to see or hear my mother in any way that I could. No matter what the message. There was a pang of hesitation as I took the ends of the chain between my fingers and raised it to place it around my neck, finally noticing the two small holes in the back of it, knowing that had to be how my DNA was matched to activate the mechanism on the inside.
Does it take blood? I shuddered at the thought, trying my best to ignore the feeling of dread and fight back the images of the needles and blood collection paper.
I decided that it didn’t matter how scared I was of everything. I needed to see or hear what my mother had placed inside of the necklace and what I could do to save us all from King’s grasp. Everyone seemed so keen to believe that it was all about me, but who was I?
I was a girl from one of the smallest cities in the country, who just happened to have a gift that everyone wanted. King in particular for the purposes of domination of the country he’d stolen from a leader that had done nothing but better the United States. We were nearly back to the way it had been before the war that had changed us forever.
The Wall had gone up one hundred years before, and things had gotten better with time. We needed a hero, and I was supposed to be it. We needed a structure not based on fear. I was still having trouble with that fact, no matter what Cato had shown me. The realization hit me that I had no idea what powers the others possessed to earn them a stay in our prison. I would have to ask once we were within safety’s reach.
The necklace dangled, the small orb twinkling at me in the near dark as I watched. It begged to be placed around my neck. Giving into the need to see my mother again and the curiosity as to her message, I put the necklace against my bare chest underneath my shirt and clasped it around my neck, waiting for what would happen next.
It was just as I had expected it to be. Once I clasped it, there was a snap, the sting of four tiny needles, and a small trickle of blood soaked into my bra, not coming anywhere near the fabric of my crimson shirt. Not like anyone would have noticed.
A hiss flew from between my lips with gritted teeth as the needles hit home, quickly followed by a small click inside of the pendant and a blue light peeking through the fabric of my shirt. A figure appeared on the wall in front of me, dressed in the same blue that made up the light around me but much stronger. My mother smiled back at me as I sat and watched her take the shape of the hologram she had programmed into the small orb. A white lab coat clung to her small frame and hung to her knees, covering scrubs. She smiled a sad smile that didn’t reach her eyes and began to speak with words that would change my world.
“Hello, darling. I hope this message finds you well.”
Her voice sent a shock of excitement and nervousness through my heart, and it skipped a beat as if she was truly there. I said hello as if she could hear me, and she continued just as if she had heard me speak.
“I know this is a lot to take in already, but there is more that you need to know about what it is that you are being asked to do.” She stopped to take in a deep breath, her hazy chest rising and falling with the action.
“As you learned in school, the war was a turning point in our history, teaching our forefathers that it was best to isolate the country from the entirety of the world. So the Wall was built, and the country slowly changed over time. Where fear had once run it, it turned to a place of peace, and it was like that until five years ago with the assassination of our nation’s leader by Emerson King, who took his place as our president.”
I shifted, uncomfortable on the floor. I remembered when our world had changed and how quickly it had done so. King had replaced the peace with terror and distrust of the system. Public punishments ran rampant in the streets. That was King’s way of making sure we knew that the laws were not meant to be broken, and if a citizen moved against him, the consequences would be grim. Punishment would leave scars on the body, mind, and soul as a constant reminder of that fact. I had seen my fair share of the consequences live and in person more times than I cared to count. These images stopped me from doing anything reckless.
“King has turned back to the old ways, using fear and punishment as a solution to the problems we no longer faced. He felt our country needed a strong leader that would stop at nothing and would do anything it took for complete dominance over his subjects. He had gained that quickly, and used it to take his plans even further.
“Doctor Madeline Aserov was one of the scientists who discovered the marker alongside me before I was reassigned. Five years ago, she made the announcement at a New Year’s Eve party that King attended as a part of the cabinet. That was when he hit, and now he has struck terror into our hearts again, kidnapping children, mothers, fathers, sons,” she paused, looked at me, and finished with, “and daughters. All to meet his ultimate goal of a military powerhouse.
“As I’m sure you have been told, this has been happening since King’s entrance into office, only coming to a head a few weeks ago when he decided to go public with the announcement. People were taken, and now they are prisoners, forced to participate in his experiments and tests. I’m sure you have already had your biopsies, and they have tested your ability.”
My mind flashed to Cato again. They had, but not in such an innocent manner. A test never implied murder and that was what I had been forced to do. I had a feeling my mother hadn’t been made aware of my current status as far as King was concerned.
“You are powerful, Mila. More powerful than I think you realize. After meeting Cato, Doctor Aserov had made me aware of what she had seen when they linked, and I knew our time for revolution had come. I knew that your power could help us. You can be our hero. You just have to believe that you can.”
I stood and walked to my mother’s form, wishing so much that I was able to hug her and cling to her for comfort. There was no such solace as my hand sliced through her form in front of me, causing her to pixelate for a few seconds and reform perfect and crisp. She was right
. It was a lot to take in, but there was no way around the facts of how it all had to be.
“I’ll try,” I whispered, watching her face as it fell even farther into the depression I had seen creeping into her eyes as she spoke the truth of what our society was becoming. Where did I even start?
“First thing you must do is to build your base. We know, from what Cato had seen that your friends are the ones you can depend on.” Her eyes drooped in sadness and then drifted back to me as if she could see my face. “I’m so sorry that Cato can’t be here to watch you grow and change into what he knew you are, to what is in your soul. But King has other plans. That I can say for certain. Your power is unique, and he will try to change you. Turn you into a bitter shell and draw you to his side. You must fight it no matter what the consequences are. And he will do what he can to steal your gift from you to place into another who has the will, but not the muscle. I know you can defeat him, and I know it is a lot to ask.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” I breathed toward her blue-tinged image. My mother was asking a lot of me, and I wasn’t even sure if I could be what they required. I had to try, right? For Cato? For my mother, for Gaia, and my friends? Our futures. Yes. That was my purpose.
“The signal is coming soon and when it does Ryder will lead you out of this place, bringing you to where I am now. For security, I cannot tell you where I am exactly, but it is safe here. Now I must leave you, but there is one more thing I want to say to you. A quote from your father’s favorite poem that I want you to take to heart. Only John Milton’s words from Paradise Lost Book Eight can honestly explain.” Her eyes hardened, and her lips set in a straight and firm line across her face. It was as if she was staring directly through me. “‘Something yet of doubt remains, which only thy solution can resolve.’ You are our only solution, Mila.”
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. All I could do was stare through her after hearing those words. I was the solution.
She grinned for only the second time during her message and said the most important words a mother can say to her child. “I love you.”
“I love you.”
And, with that, she was gone, folding into a beam of light that seemed to draw itself back into the pendant beneath my shirt and throwing me into near darkness. The gloom was only growing around me, leaving me alone with the possibilities.
Chapter 28
The dining hall was before me, and I could see Ryder watching me with fascination as I made my way through the line, those behind the counter splashing what I could only assume was a chili of some kind into a bowl and practically throwing it onto my tray. It splattered, causing a spot of the stew to stain my red shirt. I sighed, giving her an exasperated look as I fought to choke down the power that only wanted revenge for the tiny blemish on my pristine clothes. It would have to stay until I was back inside the relative safety of my living quarters. That was if I was ever led back to that room again.
Since my breakdown in the Harvest, Ryder had been watching me carefully, waiting for another to grip me with the same ferocity as the last. I was only hoping that that wouldn’t be the case. My mother and Cato had both told me I had a purpose and that only fueled the anger and the sadness. It would drive me toward the ultimate goal. I just knew it. Turning away from the burly woman who had rudely thrown my lunch at me, I searched the dining hall for three familiar faces knowing the fourth that I had come accustomed to was only a memory. The face that begged me with such desperation that it was terrifying to even me. I couldn’t imagine what he must have felt to feel so strongly about his death, but the vision of what was to come had been his driving force. That and King’s vendetta that I had to admit would instill anyone with the courage to step forward knowing what it had done to so many.
I spotted Caius’ head of long blond hair rather quickly, Julius’ sat facing Nero who sat next to Caius. Nero hadn’t spotted me yet, but would quickly when I moved to sit down with them and make my proposal of escape. How would he take it? Would he agree that we needed to be rid of that place and fight? Or would he feel the need to stay for some reason? Could Cato’s death drive him to the other side? Walking to the table with hesitant steps, I could feel eyes on me. I knew I looked as if I had been chewed up and spit back out with a stitched head, bite mark on my neck, and a ferocious black eye, but none of that mattered. The injuries only pushed me forward. The metal bench was cold as I slid in next to Julius, no one’s glance greeting me but Caius’. He understood. I could see that within his expression as we sat in limbo staring at each other with that air of empathy that only comes when you have shared an experience.
“You aren’t welcome,” I heard Nero say, not even caring to look me in the eye as he said the words. He was focusing intently on his bowl of chili he was hunched over, spooning more of the slop into his mouth.
“Nero, stop.” Julius came to my rescue. What would I ever do without him? I didn’t even want to think about it. “None of this is her fault, and you know it.”
Nero slammed his closed fist into the table, his knuckles slightly bruised after hitting me, and glared at his brother. It was not going to go over well at all. Would he stick around long enough to hear my proposal?
“I’m tired of you defending her like you do.” He pointed at me then, his eyes finally meeting mine with such rage I felt like I was beginning to shrink away into nothingness. “You had a choice, and you made the wrong one. Sorry isn’t going to fix anything so don’t even try to apologize for what you did.”
His words stung, the anxiety of being in the same vicinity as him picking up inside of me. I had been nervous before, but it wasn’t just that feeling anymore. I felt small, insignificant, and scared of what he would possibly do. He had punched me once. I was sure he would do it again if he felt the urge, which caused me to lean back just a little just in case. He could reach me with those long arms if he wanted to regardless. He had started weight lifting heavily at around the age of sixteen and hadn’t stopped since. He had even coerced Julius and Cato into it, and it was their routine three times a week to go first thing in the morning. I never thought I would be that petrified of him until then.
“That’s enough, Nero!” Julius nearly yelled in exasperation at his brother’s insistence that my actions were totally under my control. Granted, in a way they were, but there were only two options at that point. It was either I kill Cato, and we live so they could experiment on us another day, or I let him live, and we all die regardless. Cato would’ve still met the same fate. Just by someone else’s hand. “She didn’t have much of a choice. What would make you think she would willingly kill him?”
“I’d rather be dead than him. She had a choice, and she chose wrong.”
“How do you know that? You weren’t even there.”
“And you were?”
“No, but if she says she wasn’t then I believe her. And if she said that Cato begged her to do it to save us, I think he did. Cato was a selfless person, and it sounds like something he would’ve done.”
“He would’ve been killed, regardless. That’s how King operates. Right, Mila?” Caius jumped in to defend me, which I felt I didn’t deserve. All three pairs of eyes turned to me, and I could barely get the words out, stammering like a nervous child on their first day of school where they have to introduce themselves to their classmates.
“Yes. King told me that if I didn’t do it then he would kill all of you and then Cato. I would be last so I could suffer. Cato begged me to save all of us, but that wasn’t the only reason. He showed me something right before he died. Something I’m going to need to explain to all of you. Then I have a proposal to make.” I turned to each man, examining each expression. Nero was doubtful, Julius was hopeful, and Caius was interested in what I had to say. He was helping me. I could see it, and I was grateful.
“And what’s so special about you that he would threaten you?” Nero scoffed, disbelief still leaching into his voice and tainting every word.
I t
ook a deep breath in and let it out, feeling his words sting inside of my already open wounds that all the events up to that point has caused. I was a hollow shell only filled with hurt, sorrow, and wrath with no room for anything else and Nero seemed to be preying on that.
“Power, that’s what.” I hissed as I leaned in so I wouldn’t have to speak so loudly for my friends to hear me amongst the racket of those around us.
“Sure, Mila,” Nero sneered.
Caius jumped to my rescue again by stating, “No, you saw what she did to the man who almost escaped. We all saw it. I’ve never seen anyone else do anything like that, and I’ve been stuck here for five years now. It’s her power he wants. He wants it on his side anyway he can take it. And if that means killing a few people to turn her into the monster he thinks she is then so be it. We all know how he operates.”
Julius turned to his brother. “It makes sense.” He then turned back to me. “But why? And why not keep Cato around?”
“To build the ultimate military regime. Cato is a clairvoyant. Even he had said they were a dime a dozen, which is why King didn’t flinch when he forced me to make a decision.”
“So then what do we do?” Caius asked, intrigue in his voice that I could also see in Julius’ sincere expression. He was willing to believe what I said as truth. I had never given him a reason not to. Caius also barely knew me, but the light of hope was shining inside of him that was contagious.
“We get out of here. There is something no one is telling us, and I have the inside track.”
The Harvested (The Permutation Archives Book 1) Page 19