by J. L. Weil
The thought of seeing the brooding Slayer brought on a strong wave of emotions: longing, sadness, regret, love, a mishmash of feelings.
I hugged my knees to my chest and stared out the window. Darkness spilled in from my only source of the outside world. Too bad I was at least six or seven stories from the ground, leaving me no real chance at escape.
A cool breeze sent the curtains dancing in the air, and I turned on my side, gazing up into the starry sky, wondering where he could be.
After the attack, there was a big black spot in my memory thanks to the drug my father had injected me with. I had no clue what had happened to Dash—if he’d been captured, tortured, killed, or if he had managed to get away.
I was really holding out for the latter.
The idea of him being tangled in the Institute’s web left me with a feeling of bleakness, but if he was out there and had escaped, at least there was a ray of hope. He could still find his family and all wouldn’t be lost.
I needed to find out, for my own sanity, but no one told me anything. Not that I was actually allowed to see anyone other than the quiet, shy girl who brought me my meals and checked on me from time to time.
Starlyte was her name.
There was something frail about the girl. She was no older than me, but rarely spoke or looked me in the eye, as if she felt ashamed for me. Maybe it was pity. I’d been too angry and upset to pay her much attention at first. Now she was the only thing I looked forward to: seeing another face.
Since I’d been taken, I had yet to see my father or mother. And boy did I have questions. Monroe, or Ember as she now calls herself, had also been MIA. It didn’t make any sense to me. Why had my father drugged me and, in essence, kidnapped me? How could my family be a part of the Institute? It was like finding out your father was a drug lord. Disbelief didn’t begin to cover it.
I told myself that no matter what happened I wouldn’t cry. They wouldn’t break me. Tears solved nothing. I had to believe that my parents were still good people, and there was a reason for their involvement in the Institute … whatever it was. If only I could see them, then maybe I could understand why they locked me away. They had to have an explanation.
And I was damn tired of waiting.
Throwing the covers aside, I hopped out of bed, not giving a flying pig’s ass what time it was. Padding to the door, I lifted my hand to pound on the wooden surface.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. My hand stopped in midair when the alarm sounded, shrilling down the hall. I glanced around the room to see if I had somehow stepped on a tripwire. A light from the window caught my attention. It was a spotlight circling and flashing through the window in my room. Curious, I scurried across the room, dodging the end of the bed, and peered down into the courtyard. Guards in their blue uniforms scattered throughout the area, obviously searching for something or someone.
Dash.
It had to be him. “Run,” I whispered out the window, my fingers clutching the sill.
The lock on my door turned a moment before it opened. It was Starlyte, or Star as I called her—the girl who’d seen to my needs the last few days. Although she had barely said five words to me, it hadn’t stopped me from trying to pry information from her.
“What’s going on?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder.
Star reminded me of a skittish cat, adorable and sweet. She had long, silky blonde hair that I would have killed for and big soft brown eyes. It made me wonder what the Institute had done to her to make her so wary. “I’m not sure. I was just told to stay with you until it is safe.”
“Safe from what? Is the city under attack?”
She wound her hands together, standing in the middle of the room with her eyes on the floorboards. “I’m not sure. The alarms have never sounded since I’ve been here, but I don’t think we’re under attack.”
My eyes returned outside, looking for any sign of danger. I couldn’t see anything other than the guards all running in the same direction. “How long have you been here exactly?”
She shrugged. “I awoke a few months ago.”
“And you were brought directly to Diamond Towers?”
“Yes. Since I didn’t have any abilities, I was offered a job.”
Strange. I’d been under the impression that those who didn’t show signs of being mutated by the nuclear vapor got the boot. “So you weren’t affected by the mist?” I asked to clarify.
She shook her head.
I nibbled on my lip. Could I trust what she told me? Maybe she was supposed to feed me information, make me think the Institute wasn’t the bad guys.
The lights finally stopped flashing, and the siren ceased its annoying wail. All fell silent once again. “About time. My ears are ringing worse than the last rock concert I went to,” I mumbled.
Star cracked a smile. It was the first time I’d seen her show an emotion outside of being jumpy. It gave her the wholesome, girl-next-door look.
“So you really don’t know what happened? I don’t mean to pry; it’s just I’ve been stuck in this room for days and I don’t know why. I’m starting to freak out.”
Her eyes bounced to the closed door and then back to me, as if she was nervous someone might be listening. I found that to be a scary thought. She twined her fingers together in a pretzel before answering. “I overheard one of the guards say a prisoner had escaped.”
“Dash,” I muttered under my breath. It had to be him. He would be the only person capable of doing it a second time.
“Who is Dash?” Star asked, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
Wow. This was progress. I sat down on the other side, the mattress dipping under my weight. “No one. At least not anymore.”
“Is he the one you were brought in with?”
This was the longest conversation we’d ever had, and I felt starved for some human interaction. “What do you know about me?”
“That you are Dr. Winston’s daughter. He has been searching for you for a long time.” She sounded like a robot.
“Dr. Winston is my father? Huh. How about that.” He hadn’t been a doctor before, and I highly doubted he was one now … unless the mist had given him some kind of healing powers. Anything was possible. “Am I ever going to be able to see him?”
“The Institute usually gives new recruits a few days to get accumulated before being assessed.”
“Is that why I am locked in this room?”
She glanced down at her hands. “I’m told it is for your own protection. To keep you from being kidnapped.”
“Kidnapped?” I squeaked. Well, wasn’t that rich.
“How did you do it?” she asked, peeking up at me from thick, long lashes that curled perfectly.
My eyes narrowed. “Do what?”
“Survive in the Heights.”
“You’ve never been outside?” I asked, wondering if she was a prisoner too.
She shook her waterfall of blonde locks. “No, just during my transport, and the things I did see made me want to be a hermit.”
“It is definitely another world out there, but you’d be surprised what you’re capable of under duress. I survived only because I had Dash.”
“They say he is dangerous, that he has killed a dozen or more guards.”
A smiled tugged at my lips, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t truly smiled since before I’d been captured … since Dash. “That sounds like him.”
“He doesn’t scare you?”
I snorted. “Believe it or not, he isn’t as bad as reputation makes him out to be, but he would deny it until he was blue in the face.”
“One of those guys,” she muttered.
I arched a brow, my curiosity piqued. “You know a few?”
“I did, once upon a time.”
“How much do you remember before the mist?” It was normal to forget most of your former life after waking from the hundred-year-long slumber, but as I’d learned, there was always the exception to the norm. Take me, for example. I’d recovered
most of my memories shortly after awakening. And then there was Dash, whose memories eluded him like a startled fish.
“Enough to remember I have no one in this world.” Sadness reverberated in her voice, and if it hadn’t been, I would have seen the sorrow radiating in her big, expressive eyes.
If anyone needed a friend more than me, it was Star. “Do you think they caught him?”
She gave me an odd look before it registered who I was talking about. “The prisoner? I hope so.”
Funny. I didn’t. I hoped he was far, far away from the white city. “It sounds like things have died down out there. Maybe we should check, just in case.”
Star jumped off the bed so fast, I almost took a tumble over the side.
“You’re going to lock me back in here, aren’t you?” I asked, and for a brief moment, I contemplated running her over like a linebacker. The girl looked as if she could use a supersized Big Mac meal. I could totally take her. I was sure of it, but I still had a gazillion unanswered questions, and until I talked to my parents, I couldn’t leave the fortress.
She eyed me warily. “I’m sorry. It’s for—”
I crossed my arms. “If you say it is for my protection, I’ll be forced to punch you.”
Her doe eyes got as big as saucers. She actually thought I would hit her.
“I’m kidding, mostly,” I added drolly. “I’m just going a little stir-crazy in here. Being contained goes against my free spirit. When do you think I’ll be able to leave this room?”
It was obvious I had made a mistake in teasing her. She clammed up and withdrew into her shell once again. “I should go, and you should get some rest. Your training starts tomorrow. You’ll need your strength.”
Star wasn’t joking.
Chapter Two
I’d both been looking forward to and dreading this day—the day the Institute put me in their training program.
At least I wouldn’t be stuck looking at the same blank walls.
But first, I got a long overdue visit from my father.
About damn time too. Him and me, we had words to discuss. Loads of them, and not all of them pretty, starting with why the hell I was locked in a room. I was fuming. Pacing a room the size of a walk in closet for four days would do that to a person.
The man who had been my idol as a child walked in with a smile on his face. His temples were peppered with gray hair just as I remembered, but the twinkle that had always been in his Irish green eyes was gone. In its place shined a calculated light utterly foreign to me. It changed his whole demeanor. “Good. You’re awake. How are you feeling?”
I blinked, wondering if he was being serious. “Like I’m living a bad dream.”
His hands clasped in front of him, the dark blue Institute uniform stretching over his shoulders. “The effects of the drug should be completely out of your system.”
My heart rate picked up. Inside I was torn in two. A part of me cautious, uncertain who I could trust, and the other part wanted to run into his arms, waiting for him to tell me he was sorry, that he loved me. I just stared at him. “You drugged me. Why?”
He smiled, but there was something off about it, like it had been practiced. “If there was another way, it would have been done, trust me.” He stepped forward and raised a hand in the air, as if to ruffle my hair, but then stopped. “I only want to keep you safe.”
What a laugh. I wasn’t positive I could trust him—my own father.
“The situation was precarious and needed to be handled with care,” he continued. “I would never have done anything to hurt you or that wasn’t in your best interests. I’m your father.”
I didn’t want the father-knows-best speech right now. What I wanted was answers that made sense, but I wasn’t sure he could give me what I needed. “My father wanted to preserve life. He never would have been part of something that destroyed it,” I pointed out.
“You only know what you’ve been told. There is so much more for you to learn, and that is why you’re here: to understand the world as it is now. I might seem different. You’ve changed as well, I see, but no matter what, Charlotte, you’re still my daughter.”
“Funny, I feel like a hostage.”
“I assure you there is nothing to get excited about. It was a precaution and that all changes today. We’re going to teach you the skills you need to survive.”
Was he kidding me? This had to be a sick joke. “If you call being tortured something to get excited about.”
“Muffin—”
Knots formed in my belly at hearing the childhood nickname. “I know you toss aside those who don’t fit into your mutated program. I know you torture those who are Gifted to figure out what they can do,” I cut in, growing more agitated by the second. “I know all about your little operation here. I’ve seen it firsthand. You kill people. Innocent people. You tried to kill me.”
My father frowned. “That is not true. I didn’t know you were with him. You have to understand things are different now.”
“I guess things have changed. I don’t know who you are anymore,” I ground out.
“You may not believe everything I tell you,” he continued, softening his expression, “which is why I think it is important for you to see what we do here with your own eyes, and then maybe you can begin to understand that we’re not the enemy; you can see the truth behind the Institute. Let me show you.”
As if I had a choice. “And if I refuse?”
“You’re curious. I can see it in your eyes. Why not give yourself the chance to see we’re really not the bad guys?”
“Don’t make me regret this,” I grumbled.
The moment my father and I stepped out of the room, two guards fell in step behind us. One of them was Trist. I liked to say it was nice to see a familiar face, but this particular face had once tried to kill me. Both guards were armed, and then, of course, they were also Gifted. The implication was crystal clear: I shouldn’t try any funny business.
As we walked, my father seemed taller than I remembered. “This is the housing wing, where you’ve been staying. There are three floors dedicated to sleeping quarters. The floor you are on is the executive one for staff and management. The other two floors are for trainees. Once recruits go through the program, we help them decide their future.”
“And do you lock everyone in?”
A small smile curved his lips. “No. Believe it or not, this isn’t a prison.”
“But you have a dungeon.”
He nodded. “We do. What civilized society doesn’t have a place to uphold law and order? In any species, there exists good and bad. The dungeons are there to contain threats.”
I wanted to press him, ask about Dash, but I feared being sent back to my own prison.
He ushered me toward an elevator, and I was surprised to see such technology still existed. In the Heights, there was nothing like this; it was as primitive as a land could get. My eyes swept the halls, trying to get a grasp of my surroundings. We had passed a dozen or more doors just like mine.
The elevator felt a little tight with squeezing the four of us into it. I moved closer to the wall, putting as much distance between Trist and me as possible. The other guard leaned forward and hit a button with the letter C on it. There were seven buttons, so I assumed there were seven floors.
“If the top three floors are for housing, what are the others for?” I asked, attempting to get a layout of the tower.
“Floor four is for research and development. Three is the cafeteria, exercise facility, and childcare rooms. The second and ground floor are where our training happens, depending on your skill set.”
The elevator stopped and let out a ding before the doors opened. Right away, I noticed the scent of cooked meat and something sweet like maple. My stomach came to life, grumbling, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten yet today.
“You hungry?” Dr. Winston asked—I was having a hard time associating this man with my father—“I thought we’d grab something to eat befor
e we continued. I could use a cup of tea.”
Well, there was one thing that hadn’t changed. My dad never went without a mug of tea morning, noon, and night. “I could eat.”
He nodded. “Good. Then afterwards, we’ll stop by the lab and see your mom. She’s been dying to see you.”
We walked through a set of double doors, and the scent of food grew stronger along with the sound of voices. Clean square tables filled a rather normal-looking cafeteria. Most of the seats were occupied, and unless I’d become paranoid, everyone stopped and stared. Great. I loved being the circus monkey on display.
My cheeks flushed.
We went through the buffet line, and the chatter in the room kicked back up. I exhaled, piling my plate with more food than I could eat. It felt like a century since I’d had eggs and something similar to bacon. Well, it had been a century, technically.
At all times I was sandwiched between the two guards, just in case I decided to get adventurous and make a run for it. However, I was too enthralled with the food on my plate to make the effort. We found an empty table and filled the seats.
Holy mother … my eyes closed in pure delight. I devoured my food quickly not just because of my hunger pangs, but also because then I didn’t have to engage in conversation. Although I had a million more questions, there was an awkwardness between my father and me.
After I finished the last bite, and put my fork down on the cleared plate, I realized I would have to sit here while everyone else finished their food. Gah.
I took a moment to look around the room, to see the faces of the people within the Institute. The changes in their outward appearance still came as a shock to me. The toxic mist had definitely done a bang up job of altering the human species—most of us at least. Not everyone looked as if they were dressed for a Halloween party, but plenty of them would never have to shop for a costume again.
My father noticed my wandering gaze. “How much do you know of the apocalypse?”
Great, I could sense a lecture coming on. My father liked to talk. I swore he loved the sound of his own voice. Folding my hands in my lap, I sat back and prepared myself. “Just bits and pieces. I know it was a toxic mist that swept through the world, transforming everything in its path.”