Blood Ties

by Sophie McKenzie

  I wondered what she meant. Something to do with why he’d hit her, I guessed.

  ‘Get some sleep, babe.’ She stood up. ‘The door’s automatically programmed to lock when I shut it. I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do about that, but I’ll come back in an hour or so . . . and Theo?’

  I looked up.

  ‘You’re going to be okay. He’s actually nicer with you than I’ve ever seen him with anyone.’

  And, with that, she gave me a sad smile and slipped away, leaving me feeling more alone than ever.

  46

  Rachel

  Lewis’s condition for going ahead with my plan was that we should both be fully prepared before we contacted RAGE. And part of being prepared, he said, was being physically fit.

  ‘If you are going to come with me to the RAGE headquarters and Elijah’s complex in D.C., you must be able to look after yourself . . .’ he said, ‘. . . for when I can’t look after you.’

  This meant several days of workouts. They were far tougher than the couple of hours Theo and I had spent with Mel on our first morning. Lewis made me row on the rowing machine until the sweat was pouring off me, and my arms and legs ached. Then he showed me some martial arts moves.

  ‘It’s not about brute strength,’ he said. ‘It’s about balance and using your bodyweight.’

  He showed me how to pivot on one foot, thrusting the other leg into a kick. We did the same move over and over until I was completely exhausted.

  Then he stood over me while I did a hundred curl-ups, grinning down at me and yelling encouragement.

  After I was done, he cooked steaks while I soaked in a bath.

  ‘I can’t do anything fancy,’ he smiled as I sat down at the little kitchen table half an hour later. ‘But when you’ve worked hard you need good food.’

  My arms were so tired I could barely lift my knife and fork, but the steak and potatoes and salad tasted great.

  ‘This is great,’ I grinned. ‘Easily as good as Mel’s veggie curry.’

  As soon as I’d said her name I wished I hadn’t.

  Lewis’s face darkened. He pushed his plate away.

  ‘Sorry,’ I said awkwardly.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Lewis sighed. ‘I just can’t bear thinking about him hurting her again.’

  I nodded, to show that I understood. It was funny – no one as grown up as Lewis had ever talked to me so openly before, like an equal. I mean, he wasn’t exactly in the same age bracket as my parents. But he was still a good few years older than me.

  ‘Do you love her – Mel?’ I said timidly. Two days ago I would never have dared ask anyone such a question. But now, well, now I wanted to know. And there didn’t seem to be any reason not to ask.

  Lewis looked across the room. ‘I think about her all the time. How amazing she is. I remember when I saw her the first time in D.C., I just stared and stared. I couldn’t believe how she looked.’ He laughed. ‘I was terrified of talking to her. She was so out of my league, she was practically orbiting another planet. Plus, she was Elijah’s girlfriend. But I had to talk to her. Had to. And then when I did, it was so easy. We got on really well. She’s like this really strong person, but really shy too . . . Anyway, we had to be careful because of Elijah, so we didn’t have much chance to . . . to spend time together before I had to go undercover with RAGE for six months.’ He smiled at me. ‘I’ve never felt like this about anyone. It’s kind of awesome and awful at the same time. You’ll see when it happens to you.’

  I stared down at the last piece of steak on my plate and said nothing.

  After we’d eaten, Lewis sketched an outline of the Washington complex on a piece of paper.

  ‘Recreational areas across the front, then staff quarters and Elijah’s private rooms behind to the west. The labs are in the block to the east. No one ever goes into them except Elijah and the scientists. There’s some hardcore security built into the doors, but that’s where we direct RAGE. Keep them away from the staff quarters as much as possible, yeah?’

  He looked at me as if he was expecting me to make some kind of intelligent comment on his plan.

  I attempted a smile. I was starting to feel rather overwhelmed by what we’d agreed to do.

  ‘Are you sure about this, Rachel?’ Lewis said. ‘I have to get Mel anyway. But there are other—’

  ‘Of course I’m sure,’ I said fiercely. ‘It was my idea, wasn’t it?’

  The truth was I was scared. More scared than I wanted to admit. But Elijah had Theo. He wasn’t giving him up.

  Which meant I couldn’t either.

  And I decided another thing too. Maybe Theo was never going to feel about me like I did about him. But I had to find out – one way or the other.

  Lewis and I talked for a little longer about the best way to contact Max. Lewis was sure RAGE would still be tapping her phone and monitoring her emails.

  ‘Why don’t we send her a postcard?’ I said. ‘Snail mail. We could tell her to meet us somewhere.’

  Lewis frowned. ‘Where? She’s probably being followed by RAGE. They know how close she is to Theo, they’ll be expecting some kind of contact attempt. Where could she go that wouldn’t look suspicious?’

  I grinned at him. ‘I have the perfect place in mind,’ I said. ‘It’s crowded, it’s full of teenagers and we’ll be able to talk to each other without anyone noticing.’

  47

  Theo

  I explored my room while I was waiting for Mel to come back. It contained some pretty cool stuff – computer, games console, big plasma screen TV, music station.

  I went online and tried to send Mum an email. But the computer blocked my attempt to log onto my account. Then I tried to access the chat rooms Max and I often used. Also blocked. After half an hour I had to accept that I had absolutely no way of contacting anyone.

  Rage and fear paced round my head like wild cats trapped in a cage. I couldn’t see a way out. Couldn’t see any way back to any part of my old life. At least I knew Mum and Rachel were okay – or safe from RAGE anyway. My thoughts turned to Max and Jake. Mel had said she was sure they were fine – but what if RAGE had caught up with them?

  ‘D’you know if they’re really all right?’ I said to Mel when she turned up an hour or so later.

  She nodded. ‘Elijah reckoned RAGE would pick them up, interrogate them, discover they knew nothing of any importance and let them go. And, as usual, he was right. He’s been monitoring them.’

  ‘Monitoring?’ I said. ‘Why not protecting? Elijah sent Lewis for me and Rachel. Why didn’t he send someone to rescue them?’

  Mel sighed. ‘Elijah took a calculated gamble that RAGE wouldn’t harm them.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘RAGE have a specific agenda which doesn’t include murdering innocent kids. They want you and Rachel because of what you are. You in particular, because in their eyes you are a replica of Elijah. There’s no reason for them to hurt your friends.’

  ‘But Elijah couldn’t have known that for sure,’ I said, my temper rising. I couldn’t believe it. Max and Jake had nothing to do with the argument between Elijah and RAGE, and yet Elijah wouldn’t lift a finger to help them.

  ‘Despite what you see here, he doesn’t have unlimited resources,’ Mel said. ‘And to be fair, it wasn’t his fault they got involved. Listen, buddy, Elijah doesn’t want you to leave this room yet, but you’ve got to eat. So I’m going to take you to the dining hall.’ She handed me a baseball cap. ‘Put this on and pull it over your face. It’s not likely to happen, but we don’t want anyone connecting you and Elijah. Don’t look at anyone directly and keep your mouth shut when you’re there. Okay?’

  I pulled on the cap and followed her down the long corridor. Was she saying it was my fault Max and Jake were at risk now? I thought about it. I had involved both of them. But I hadn’t known how dangerous it would be. Then it hit me. I had known. Mum had told me the first night we talked about my dad being alive still. And yet, thoughtlessly, I’d led both
of them – and Rachel – into terrible danger.

  The dining hall was at the end of my corridor – a cafeteria full of people and long rows of trestle tables. A weird mix of pale, middle-aged men and women, who I guessed must be Elijah’s scientific staff, and some seriously beefy guys in security-guard uniforms. A few small kids trailed by bored-looking younger women wandered around a little play area in the corner.

  We ladled portions of macaroni cheese onto our plates. A couple of the security guards wandered over as we found a table.

  ‘Remember,’ Mel hissed, ‘keep your head down and your mouth shut.’

  As it turned out, the security guards weren’t interested in me in the slightest. They barely glanced in my direction as they tried to get Mel to chat to them. She kept her head bowed, so you couldn’t see that bruise round her eye, and answered in monosyllables. They soon drifted off.

  Mel and I ate in silence.

  I started thinking about Jake and Max again. How I’d involved them without thinking. I had been very hungry, but suddenly I couldn’t eat any more. How could I when I didn’t know if my friends were still safe?

  I saw Lewis in my mind’s eye, slumped over that armchair in the cottage. Elijah had done that.

  And I was Elijah.

  I couldn’t bear it.

  ‘I’m going back to my room,’ I muttered.

  Mel nodded. ‘I’ll call in on you later,’ she said. ‘Don’t talk to anyone on the way.’

  I stumbled back along the corridor. A lump lodged in my throat. Nothing made sense any more. A week ago I’d been Theo Glassman. A popular, powerful fifteen-year-old boy with a home and a mum and friends and no real worries at all. And now I had been stripped of everything that made up the life I knew. I didn’t even know who I was. There was absolutely nothing to hold on to. Nothing real. And nobody who could understand how it felt.

  Except Rachel, maybe. She was like me. A clone. She would understand.

  I suddenly missed home so hard it was like a physical pain in my chest. I stopped in the corridor and leaned against the wall, my eyes closed against the terrible ache of it. Holding Rachel had been real. Less than twenty-four hours ago I had stood outside the cottage and hugged her. To comfort her. To comfort myself. And she had hugged me back. That was real. That was genuine. I had to remember it.

  ‘Theodore?’ Elijah’s voice snapped my eyes open.

  He was towering in front of me, a frown on his face.

  ‘Do you feel all right?’ he said. For the first time since I’d met him I heard real concern in his voice. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ I said. ‘And it’s Theo.’

  Elijah’s eyes narrowed. ‘Well, I want you to have a full medical examination tomorrow, anyway. It’s standard procedure for newcomers to the compound.’

  I stared at him. ‘Tell me why I’m here.’ Maybe I could get him to talk. To tell me his plans.

  ‘You’re here because this is where you belong, Theodore.’ Elijah smiled and leaned back against the wall. ‘I was always going to send for you, once you’d finished school. You might have forced me into moving faster than I was planning, but I always wanted you here to . . . to help me.’

  ‘What d’you mean, “to help you”?’

  ‘To learn about what I do.’ Elijah stopped. My heart beat faster. So Mel was right.

  ‘Is that it?’ I said. ‘You want me to somehow take over your work? Because—?’

  ‘Where is Mel?’ Elijah pushed himself away from the wall and looked down the corridor. ‘I told her I didn’t want you to leave your room unaccompanied.’

  I stared at him. I still needed answers. ‘Tell me what you want me to do.’

  ‘Not now. Not here.’ Elijah folded his arms. ‘Back to your room.’

  My temper rose like a volcano.

  ‘Tell me!’ I shouted. ‘Tell me or I’ll tell everyone who I am.’

  Elijah whipped round, his eyes blazing. ‘You will do no such thing.’

  ‘I will,’ I shouted. ‘I’ll go back to the dining hall and stand on a table and—’

  ‘You’ve been in the dining hall?’ Elijah glared at me. ‘I told Mel to keep you away from all the public areas.’

  My heart pounded. Crap. Now I’d got someone else into terrible trouble.

  ‘It’s not Mel’s fault,’ I said quickly. ‘She told me to go back to my room. But I . . . I don’t want to. I don’t want to be a prisoner here. I want to go back to London. I want to go home.’ I fought an impulse to cry. No way was I showing any emotion in front of this man.

  Elijah stared at me. He suddenly looked tired. Exhausted, even. He pulled a pot of pills out of his pocket and popped one in his mouth.

  ‘If you’re keeping me here because you’re going to die one day and you want me to take over from you, there’s no point,’ I snapped. ‘I’ve got as much chance of becoming a genius scientist as I have of turning into a bunsen burner.’

  A look of shock crossed Elijah’s face, then he smiled. ‘Okay, Theodore,’ he said slowly. ‘I’m sorry. This must all seem quite bewildering to you.’ He put his hand on my shoulder and started walking me back towards my room. ‘I do want you to learn about what I do here. And yes, my hope is that you will be able to follow in my footsteps. But I do not intend to force you into anything. Right now, all I ask is that you give me and my work a chance.’ He squeezed my shoulder. ‘You know I was angry that you disobeyed your mother and set off to find me in that reckless way you did, but I was also touched. Proud that you wanted to know me.’

  I looked away, remembering how I’d imagined us as soldiers, fighting side by side against RAGE’s bigotry. That seemed a long time ago now.

  We reached my room.

  ‘We will talk again soon, Theodore,’ Elijah said. ‘Okay?’

  He patted my back. For a split second I felt that gun pressing against my forehead again.

  I nodded slowly.

  ‘Good.’ Elijah opened my door. ‘Now, please, inside and rest.’

  I walked into my studio. The door clicked shut behind me.

  I was locked in.

  48

  Rachel

  It was late Friday afternoon. The Starbucks near where Theo lived was packed with teenagers. I’d guessed it would be, from the way Theo had described hanging out there with Jake.

  Lewis and I had driven down from Scotland that morning. We waited in a shop opposite, watching out for Max.

  Our postcard to her had read: Starbucks. Friday. Five p.m. Say nothing. Baby Friend.

  Baby friends was how Theo had described him and Max to me the first time I’d met her. I’d hoped the phrase would make sense to her. I also hoped she wouldn’t be too pissed off at us pretending the postcard came from Theo.

  The truth was, I wasn’t sure if Max would turn up for anyone else.

  She arrived at 4.55 p.m. Lewis scanned the street up and down as she walked into the café.

  ‘She hasn’t been followed,’ he said.

  ‘How can you be so sure?’

  ‘Because I am. Plus I’d recognise anyone from RAGE. Or the people they use to do this kind of thing.’ Lewis glanced at me. ‘I worked with them for six months, remember?’

  We waited five minutes, then crossed the road.

  I spotted Max as soon as we walked in. She was sitting at the back, beside the toilets, drumming her fingers on the table. I started threading my way through the throng of teenagers clustered around the order and collection points.

  Lewis kept his hand protectively on my shoulder. I noticed a number of girls checking him out and shooting me envious glances. In spite of how nervous I was feeling, I smiled. Lewis was tall and really fit, with amazing blue eyes. I mean, I didn’t fancy him myself, but the idea that anyone would think I was old enough or pretty enough for him to be interested in was kind of nice.

  Max stood up as I reached her table.

  ‘Where’s Theo?’ she said. ‘What’s happened to him?’

  She caught
sight of Lewis beside me and frowned. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘This is Lewis,’ I said. ‘He saved Theo’s life. And mine.’

  Max looked back at me. ‘Where is Theo?’ she repeated.

  I explained what had happened. I didn’t mention the whole cloning thing. Just that RAGE had come after us and Theo’s dad had sent Lewis to rescue us.

  ‘They came after us too,’ Max said. ‘Me and Jake.’

  ‘Are you talking about me?’ said a smooth, familiar voice.

  I jumped. Jake was standing right beside me, a leering smile on his face.

  I felt Lewis’s hand grip my shoulder more tightly, drawing me away from him. I kicked myself mentally. Why hadn’t I thought about it? Jake was bound to be here.

  ‘Who’s this?’ Lewis asked.

  ‘Just Jake.’ I blushed. ‘Another friend of Theo’s.’

  ‘Hey, Rachel. Good to see you, too,’ Jake purred. ‘What have you done with Theo? Max and I have been in this total nightmare. The guys from that weirdo organisation your dad’s mixed up in are seriously evil.’

  ‘Oh, shut up, Jake,’ Max snapped. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  Before anyone could say anything else, I introduced Lewis properly and we all sat down at the table. I went over what we’d just told Max, again. Then Max explained how the night RAGE came for Theo and me, they also picked up Jake and her.

  ‘They took us together to this abandoned building. Left us for ages.’

  Lewis nodded. ‘They would have been waiting to see what you knew. What you said about Theo.’

  ‘Then they interrogated us separately,’ Jake went on. ‘It was really scary. They were dead threatening. I mean they didn’t hurt us or anything, but I bet they had guns.’

  I opened my mouth to tell him I was sure of it. But Lewis laid his hand on my arm.

  ‘We had to tell them what we knew,’ Jake said. ‘They kept asking where Theo was now – but of course we didn’t know.’

  Lewis cleared his throat. ‘The point is that although Theo’s dad rescued him, now he wants Theo to stay with him,’ he said.