CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Dalton leaves the helicopter first, checking the coast is clear before waving us out into the hangar behind him. Memories flicker through my mind, consuming my thoughts, as I leave the helicopter and take a step down onto the hard concrete floor. This place had felt huge when I’d been here before. The corrugated iron roof had been so foreign and the chill in the air was so alien. It’s just the same as it was when I left, but at the same time it feels completely different. I’d been blindly terrified at the time though, so it’s not surprising really.
It’s strange to recall my last moments here. The desperation I’d felt, the total uncertainty I had of what to expect next. I look around the space with fresh eyes. There are seven other helicopters of varying sizes in the space near us and the rest of the hangar is empty.
‘That’s strange,’ Gord says, coming around the side of the helicopter and joining our group. ‘There are more choppers here than usual and there’s normally someone here to greet me.’
Dalton looks around the hangar and then shrugs. ‘Maybe they got held up.’
‘Maybe,’ Gord replies, though he doesn’t sound convinced.
Dalton moves to the centre of the group. ‘Okay, you know the plan. When we get down into the ARC we’re heading straight for the council chambers. There shouldn’t be any problems, but if anything happens we’ll meet back here.’
We all nod along with him and I feel tense as I look around the group. What if something bad does happen?
We follow Dalton across the hangar, towards the door that will lead us to the world below our feet. I should be excited, but instead I feel unease coursing through me. I glance back over my shoulder at Gord, who waits by the helicopter. Why hasn’t someone come to meet him like they usually would? It’s only a small thing but for some reason it has me on edge.
The sound of a door opening catches my attention, and I look back at the rest of our group to see I’ve fallen behind. The others are already moving past the door Dalton holds open and into the upper corridors of the ARC. I jog to catch up with them, and fall into place behind Lara as she steps through the doorway.
It’s silent in the corridor and all I can hear are the sounds of breathing from our group. I try to see if I can hear anything further away, but am only met with more silence.
Dalton moves past us and walks over to a shelving unit just inside the doorway. It’s filled with sets of the grey clothing I wore almost every day of my life in the ARC. Dalton grabs the clothes and passes them to the rest of us.
‘Change,’ he murmurs, his eyes darting warily down the long empty corridor before us.
These clothes had once felt so familiar to me, but now they feel like a distant memory. When I see Sebastian in his greys I am reminded of us growing up together and I smile. We used to get into so much trouble in the ARC and seeing us both in our greys makes me realise how much we’ve matured in the short time since we left.
Once everyone has changed we begin to move into the corridor. We are quick and silent as we move down one hallway after another, making our way to the lifts that will take us to the ARC. There are no officials in the upper ARC, but it’s not surprising. The world up here is sectioned off from the rest of the ARC. There’s no need for law enforcement when no one lives up here. Most of the ARC doesn’t even know this area exists. Only those found tainted ever see it and then they’re taken away, so it doesn’t matter. No one has ever returned—until now.
Still, getting to the lifts seems too easy, and it makes me nervous when we reach them and we haven’t seen a single person. I look around at the others, but no one else seems worried.
When the lift doors open and we step into the small space, my heart hammers as the reality of what we’re doing hits me. We’re finally returning to the ARC and I have no idea what will greet us when the lift descends and the doors open again.
We crowd into the lift and my stomach lurches when the doors slide closed and the lift begins to plummet at a rapid pace. I instinctively reach out and grab Sebastian’s hand and he gives it a reassuring squeeze. His eyes are warm as he looks at me, telling me that everything will be okay.
The lift slows to a stop and when the doors slide open the blaring white florescent lights and white walls of a doctor’s office greet us. Soren exits the lift first and as I step out after him he throws one hand against my chest to stop me. A man in an official’s white uniform stands in the middle of the room. On seeing us his eyes widen and in the blink of an eye he disappears, reappearing next to us before throwing his fist at Soren’s face.
Soren’s eyes flare purple and he surges away from the punch, moving so quickly the man doesn’t have a chance to react. Soren’s body blurs as he darts to the man’s side and places his hand against the side of his head. His hand glows a luminous blue and the man drops to the ground before any of us can react. Soren slouches slightly, resting his hand against the wall to support himself.
‘What just happened?’ I ask, my eyes darting from the man on the ground to Soren. ‘I saw him teleport. What’s someone talented doing down here?’
The rest of the group stand frozen still with identical looks of shock and worry on their faces, but Soren is straight into action. He begins to peel the man’s uniform from his body.
‘He must be a recruiter,’ Dalton says, walking over to help Soren with the uniform. ‘Something’s not right.’
The others crowd into the room behind me and Soren changes into the official’s uniform. Once he’s dressed, he walks past the man lying still on the ground and over to the open doorway.
‘Give me a minute,’ he says, looking over his shoulder at us. ‘I’ll check there’s no more officials nearby.’ He then leaves the room, shutting the door behind him.
Sebastian glances at the man heaped on the ground before moving to the doorway to listen for any sign of Soren’s progress. There’s stiffness to Sebastian’s shoulders and I can tell the talented official being in the ARC troubles him. I glance at the man, glad to see his chest clearly rising and falling. At least he isn’t dead.
‘Is he a recruiter?’ I ask Hunter, as he comes to stand beside me. ‘What do you think he’s doing down here?’
‘I didn’t get a chance to read his mind,’ he says, with a shrug. ‘I sure hope there’s not any more.’
If there’s one though, it seems unlikely he will be the last we run into and, by the tension I can feel in the air, the rest of the group knows it too.
When Soren returns, he looks paler than when he left. His eyes are still flaming a brilliant colour of purple and, though no one says it aloud, he’s clearly just used his talent again.
‘There’s no one out there,’ he says. ‘Sebastian, you know the ARC best; you should be up front to lead the way. I will bring up the rear.’
Sebastian nods, his eyes becoming focused as he moves to lead us from the room. The corridor is eerily quiet as we enter it. I feel nerves churning in my gut and I keep close to Sebastian who walks in front of me. We’re such a big group and highly conspicuous if any official walks by.
It will be difficult to make it to the council chambers in the West Wing undetected, but I feel certain we have enough talents to deal with any officials we come across—that’s if they’re not talented.
Sebastian moves with certainty as he leads us through the hospital corridors. He pauses by each corner, checking for signs of officials before waving us to follow him. We haven’t seen a single nurse, doctor or patient yet. This place is usually a hive of activity, and the longer we go without seeing anyone the more nervous I feel.
We’re almost to the front entrance of the hospital when I hear sounds of talking and movement up ahead. I grab Sebastian’s arm and jerk him to a stop. He turns to me, a look of confusion furrowing his brow.
‘What?’ Sebastian mouths, as the rest of the group pauses behind us.
‘There are people up ahead,’ I whisper. My fingers tingle with talent as my heart begins to race. I take a de
ep breath in and blow it out to calm myself. The tingles dull a little, but I can still feel them humming in my fingertips. The thought makes me nervous, but I try to push it down. I will not lose control here. I refuse.
Hunter moves up beside Sebastian. ‘Let me go first. I can manipulate their thoughts enough so they won’t see us pass.’
He glances at Dalton who nods with approval, and allows Hunter to take the lead.
My heart beats so loudly I can hear it ringing in my ears and my fingers continue to prickle as we follow Hunter quietly. I try not to think about the talent that hums through my body. I can’t waste energy now. I need to preserve my talent in case we get into real trouble, but it’s difficult to convince my body I’m fine when I feel so wound up.
Hunter reaches the end of the corridor, which opens out onto the hospital foyer area, and pauses to look carefully around the corner. He holds up a hand, causing us to stop, before slowly turning to face us.
‘Is there another way out of here?’ his voice sounds in my mind. Sebastian shakes his head and so do I. The entrance foyer of the hospital is, to my knowledge, the only way in and out of this place.
I cautiously approach Hunter and take a quick peek around the corner myself. Past the reception desk, there are two rows of people standing in their greys. They look like they must be teenagers and their faces are filled with fear. They all stare down at their feet, too scared to look up at the five officials who usher them into the hospital.
Hunter grabs my wrist, dragging my eyes from the group to look at him. ‘Those people aren’t officials. They’re recruiters,’ he reveals.
My eyes widen and I glance back at the men in the crisp white suits. ‘What are they doing with those kids?’ I think back at him, hoping he catches my thoughts. I can’t stop looking at the grave faces of the teenagers assembled. One girl has tears in her eyes, while another boy is chewing nervously on his lower lip. Whatever’s happening here isn’t normal. At least, it wasn’t when I used to live down here.
Hunter slowly shakes his head, frowning as he focuses in on one of the recruiters. ‘They’re taking them to a holding room in the hospital.’
‘What’s happening?’ Dalton whispers to Hunter, coming up behind us.
‘Recruiters,’ Hunter responds.
I pull back from the corner allowing Dalton to take my spot so he can get a look at the foyer. He assesses the room with one look before facing us again.
‘We should find another route,’ he says quietly.
‘There isn’t one,’ Sebastian whispers back.
‘Then we need to find a wall where I can make a window through to the rest of the ARC. This entrance is too dangerous. Something’s clearly up and I don’t want to expose our group until we know what it is.’
‘I may have a way,’ Aiden suggests softly.
We all turn to look at him and he lets out a slow breath.
‘There’s another way out of here,’ he repeats, ‘but I can guarantee no one is going to like it.’
‘It doesn’t matter; as long as it’s not buzzing with recruiters,’ Soren responds.
Aiden nods and turns, leading us away from the foyer. He pushes through a door at the end of the corridor, taking us deeper into the hospital. His steps are certain as he leads the way, and his face is calm as he checks for recruiters at each intersection.
I keep my senses extended as we walk, but the hallways are oddly quiet. There are no noises coming from patient rooms and the place feels like it’s totally deserted.
‘Through here,’ Aiden says, pausing as he reaches a set of doors. He attempts to enter a pin into the keypad by the door, but it keeps flashing red.
Aiden turns to me. ‘Any chance you can fry it?’ he asks.
‘I can try,’ I say, giving him a hesitant look. Lara gently places her hand on my arm and her touch sends a flood of confidence flowing through me. I can almost feel the essence of her talent reaching every part of my body and instantly calming the nerves that restrict me. I smile at her gratefully and step towards the device.
My talent flows easily to my fingers as I place them over the pin pad and an electrical current erupts from my hand in a large white ball of light. As the sparks connect between my hand and the pin pad, I am thrown back from the door. I fly through the air behind me to land with a thud on my backside.
Ouch.
I groan and move to push myself up. I feel winded and my back feels tingly and slightly numb from the fall. Sparks of electricity still dance over my fingertips and move up my arms. I clench my teeth together as I try to calm myself enough to make them stop.
‘Are you okay?’ Sebastian asks, rushing to my side. He doesn’t touch me, but crouches a safe distance away from the electricity still buzzing over me.
‘Fine,’ I say, a little breathless.
I look back up at the door to see the pin pad has been completely destroyed. I’ve reduced it to a melted, sparking clump of metal on the wall.
Aiden tries the doorhandle and the door pushes in. ‘It worked,’ he says, turning back to us. He steps through the doorway, holding the door open as we follow him in.
The room he’s brought us to is dimly lit and much colder than the rest of the hospital. It’s only when Aiden flicks on a light by the door that I can see where we are.
A collective gasp sounds through the group as my gaze settles on the rows of metal beds before us. The light dances along their flat, shiny surfaces, drawing in the eye to focus on what rests on each one. I don’t want to believe what I’m seeing and I don’t want to take another step into the room.
Aiden’s brought us to the morgue and the place is filled with bodies.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
My eyes widen and I take a nervous step back. There are rows and rows of lifeless bodies before us. Some are covered in carelessly draped white sheets, while others lay there with their pale skin completely exposed. There’s a pungent musty smell of blood in here and I cover my nose and try to breath through my mouth, but the sharp odour remains in my nostrils.
‘Is this a joke?’ Hunter asks.
‘What are we doing here Aiden?’ Lara says, taking a step closer to me.
Aiden doesn’t respond though, his face has paled and his eyes are scanning across the dead bodies. There are no body bags and all the corpses in here are out on display. I try to avoid looking at them, but Aiden can’t seem to tear his eyes away.
‘What’s wrong?’ I ask him, taking a step forward and allowing the chill of the room to envelop me.
He slowly shakes his head. ‘They shouldn’t be out in the open like this. And there shouldn’t be so many.’
‘What do you think happened?’ Sebastian asks.
Aiden slowly approaches the first body, pulling a chart out from a container at the end of the bed. He quickly reads through the notes, before moving onto the chart at the foot of the next bed and then the next.
He’s almost at the end of the row when a chart drops from his hands and he staggers back against the wall.
‘Aiden?’ I call to him softly, but he doesn’t respond. I walk over to him and pick the chart up off of the floor. Seeing the name at the top of it, I nearly drop the board myself. I look over at the body lying on the cold metal stretcher before us. It’s Aiden’s grandfather, Dr. Wilson.
‘What happened?’ I ask, my eyes skimming back to the chart.
‘They tried to administer a trial cure on him.’ Aiden’s voice is deadened, completely flat of any emotion. ‘They gave the other people in here the same thing. I don’t understand why they would have gone ahead with something they weren’t certain of. Unless…’
‘Unless, what?’ I whisper.
‘Unless they were desperate.’ He bows his head over, cupping his hands over his face.
I reach out to him, but his body stays frozen still as he stares at the body of his grandfather. My heart wrenches inside me as I watch him and I can’t believe he’s losing another person he loves so soon after Jane.
&n
bsp; I look around at the other bodies and my mind whirs with questions. There are so many people here who needlessly died. Why would they be so desperate to test a cure they weren’t certain of? Does it somehow tie in with the recruiters being here? Could the group of teenagers who had been waiting in the hospital foyer be about to face a similar fate? I don’t know the answers to any of my questions, but an uneasy feeling in my gut tells me it’s only a matter of time before I do.
‘I’m so sorry Aiden,’ I say, turning back to him. ‘I wish there was something we could have done.’
He shakes his head. ‘There is nothing we can do now for him, but we can help the others in the ARC. We need to find volunteers to trial the cure, our cure. The cure I have works and the sooner we trial it and succeed, the sooner this madness will stop.’
His gaze falls from his grandfather. ‘He’s gone,’ he says. ‘But, I can finish what he started.’ His face hardens as he turns and walks back to the others. I slowly trail behind him, casting a glance back at his grandfather as I go.
The others in the group are huddled close, talking quietly with each other. Sebastian reaches out and pats Aiden’s arm sympathetically as he approaches, and Lara comes up and gives him a hug.
When she lets go he coughs uncomfortably. ‘We go this way,’ he says, walking over and stopping in front of one of the walls. He presses his hand against one of the white panels and lifts back a large rectangular door. Behind the door is the metal rim of a deep and dark shaft.
‘Aiden…’ my voice quivers. ‘Please tell me that’s not what I think it is.’
He glances back and nods. ‘Yes, this is how we dispose of the dead.’
‘You’re not serious…’ Luke groans.
‘Not going to happen,’ Lara objects.
Aiden folds his arms over his chest. ‘We don’t have any other option. This is our only way out of here.’
Destined (The ARC Book 4) Page 17