Blood Ties

by Sophie McKenzie

All I could think about was getting away from the house as quickly as possible.

  I flew towards the nearest corner. Whipped round it. Then took the next left. Quick. Then the next right. It was all houses. Old, brick houses with neat lawns. It was dark now. Hardly anyone about.

  I had to find a main road and some directions. Or someone I could ask directions from.

  Panting, I stopped and looked over my shoulder. Theo was a few metres behind me, half running, half staggering towards me. Daniel hung limply from his arms, half asleep.

  With a jolt I realised that Theo’s arm was dripping blood onto the pavement.

  ‘You’re leaving a trail,’ I shrieked.

  He stared at me in this weird, unfocused way.

  ‘Put Daniel down,’ I ordered.

  Theo sank to his knees and deposited Daniel on the pavement. He sat back on his heels, breathing heavily. I knelt beside him and shoved the pillowcase into his hands.

  ‘Wrap that round the wound. Tight.’

  I hauled Daniel to his feet and shook his shoulders. ‘Daniel. Wake up.’

  He moaned a little.

  In the distance I could hear running footsteps. Elijah wasn’t far behind.

  There was no other option.

  I drew my hand back and flung it against Daniel’s left cheek. Slap.

  ‘Ow! What?’ Daniel grumbled sleepily.

  ‘Wake up,’ I said. ‘Now.’

  Daniel opened his eyes. ‘What is it?’

  I glanced at Theo. His face was strangely pale in the street lights. I hauled Daniel to his feet.

  ‘Get up, Theo,’ I said.

  He stumbled to his feet. Blood was starting to show through the pillowcase on his arm, but at least it wasn’t dripping out of him any more.

  ‘Now run,’ I said.

  I dragged Daniel after me. He was still half asleep and having to run hard to keep up with me.

  We reached another corner. I ploughed down it. But I knew we were going too slowly.

  ‘Come on, Daniel. This is a race,’ I panted. ‘Beat Theo and there’s a big prize.’

  What?’ Daniel whined.

  ‘Anything you want,’ I gasped, clutching with my free hand at a stitch in my side. ‘We’ll go to a toy shop and you can choose. Anything you want.’

  Daniel said nothing, but I could feel him running harder.

  Suddenly we burst onto a main street. Smart shops and restaurants all lit up. Theo pounded up behind us.

  ‘I won,’ Daniel said gleefully.

  ‘Not over yet,’ I said.

  I tugged him after me to the next crossing. I had no idea if we were heading in the right direction. My first aim was to make sure we’d lost Elijah.

  A red light was flashing at me from the other side of the road. Beside it, also in red neon, numbers were counting down. Four. Three. Two. One.

  A green neon figure appeared. Walk. I tugged Daniel across the road and looked round. Theo was beside us, paler than ever. He leaned against a lamppost. A smartly-dressed woman passing by gave him a wide berth. I looked round. No sign of Elijah.

  ‘Wait here a sec,’ I said. I let go of Daniel’s hand and darted over to a couple holding hands outside the nearest restaurant. ‘Where’s the Jefferson thing?’ I said. ‘Please?’

  The couple stared at me. The woman was young, blonde, pretty. The man older and wary-looking.

  ‘The Jefferson Memorial?’ The woman smiled at me.

  I nodded.

  She pointed up the road. ‘Follow M street up to Pennsylvania. Then hang a right down Connecticut and follow the signs.’

  ‘Thanks.’ I darted back to Theo and Daniel. Theo was bent over, his forehead beaded with sweat.

  ‘This way,’ I said.

  He straightened up. We jogged on. I felt we should still be running hard, but it was obvious Theo was in no state to do so any more. Daniel was now wide awake.

  ‘What’s happening?’ he whimpered. ‘Where’s Elijah?’

  We were at another crossing. The red neon numbers were counting us down again. Ten. Nine. Eight.

  I looked over my shoulder and gasped. Elijah was only a few shops away.

  I turned back. ‘Hey, Daniel. Another race. Okay?’

  Cars were still flying past. Six. Five.

  There was no time to wait.

  ‘Cross,’ I yelled.

  Dragging Daniel after me I dodged between the cars, horns screeching in my ears.

  On the other side of the pavement I broke into a faster run. I could hear Theo panting beside me. I didn’t dare look back. I whipped down a side road, then turned right and right again to come back out on the main road.

  No sign of Elijah.

  On and on we raced.

  I followed the directions the woman had given me as best I could, weaving down and round what I hoped were blocks leading me back to where I’d been – small diversions, in case Elijah was still on our tail.

  The area we were running through got quieter, then busier again. Cars whooshed past. The whole city was buzzing. Alive.

  At last we arrived at a small park. It wasn’t enclosed or anything, just a patch of trees and bushes set off the main road.

  ‘Are we nearly there?’ Theo said hoarsely.

  I bit my lip. The truth was I was lost.

  ‘I think so,’ I lied.

  ‘Good,’ he said. Then he slid to the ground and passed out.

  75

  Theo

  I was lying on something hard. It smelled damp and earthy, rough against my face. And I was cold. Shivering with cold.

  Something heavy was lying across my chest, like a thick rope. I tried to move but I was wedged between two solid objects. No. Not objects. They were too warm and soft for that.

  I opened my eyes. Earth. I was lying on the ground. My arm was throbbing. Daniel was curled up in front of me, his breathing deep and even. I tried to twist round. Something was rustling above me. Green. A bush. It was really cold. There was frost on the leaves. The sky filtering between them was a greyish-pink colour.

  I had no idea how I’d got here. I could remember slashing at my arm, getting out of the house. Running and running, with Daniel in my arms. And then . . . nothing.

  I moved my frozen hand to touch the heavy rope across my chest. It was an arm. I twisted round some more. Rachel’s arm. And it was her whole body, I realised, that was pressed into my back. Her whole soft, curving body.

  It felt good, her holding me like that. Safe.

  But more than that. Much more.

  She stirred. ‘Theo?’

  ‘Hey.’

  ‘Oh, Theo.’ Her voice dissolved into tears. I could feel the wetness against my neck.

  ‘Hey,’ I said again, trying to twist round to face her.

  She tightened her hold on me. ‘I thought you were going to die,’ she sobbed. ‘When you collapsed I didn’t know what to do. I was so scared.’

  With my uninjured arm I pushed Daniel forwards a little, so I had room to turn round properly. The side of my face that had been pressed into the earth felt ridged and gritty.

  Rachel’s face was glistening with tears. As I turned towards her she buried it in my neck.

  I stroked her hair.

  I was freezing cold, my whole body stiff and sore, and my arm where I’d cut it was pulsing with pain. The man who had created me wanted to kill me to take my heart. If I escaped from him, an army of ruthless anti-cloner terrorists were waiting to tear me apart. My mother had lied to me. I could imagine nowhere in the world where I would be safe.

  And yet, at that moment, I don’t think I’d ever been happier.

  ‘You did it,’ I whispered. ‘You got us away.’

  Rachel looked up at me. Her eyes were shining. ‘You hurt yourself,’ she whispered. Her breath was white mist in the cold air. ‘To save us.’

  ‘To save myself too,’ I grinned.

  Like the Nazi I am.

  The smile fell from my face.

  ‘We should go.’ I pulled ba
ck a little.

  Who am I kidding? I don’t let people in.

  That’s who I am.

  ‘The Jefferson Memorial, yeah?’ I frowned, trying to remember what Rachel had said the night before.

  Rachel nodded. ‘Lewis told me to go there if we got separated. If he’s alive, that’s where he’ll be.’

  I sat up, colliding with the bush leaves. My head spun. ‘Let’s go.’

  ‘Are you okay?’ Rachel’s voice was full of concern.

  ‘Sure.’ I closed my eyes, fighting the nausea that swelled inside me. ‘We have to find Lewis. Get started with the relocation stuff you said Max had worked out.’ I took in a deep breath. It helped. The air was crisp and cold.

  ‘Theo?’

  I opened my eyes. Rachel was sitting up beside me.

  ‘How’s your arm?’ she said gently.

  I looked down. The pillowcase was a mess of dried blood, stuck to my skin. I tugged part of it away, exposing a centimetre or so of jagged flesh. Ow. I felt sick again.

  ‘That looks nasty.’ Rachel made a face. ‘Maybe we should get you to a hospital.’

  ‘I’m fine,’ I lied. ‘Anyway, I’m not going near any hospital. If Elijah finds me in one he’ll have all my internal organs out before you can say clone-boy.’

  Rachel smiled. Man, she was so pretty when she smiled.

  ‘Hey,’ I grinned. ‘Maybe having my heart’d make him a nicer guy.’

  Rachel gave a sort of hiccupy laugh. I put my hand on her cheek and stroked the dirt off her face with my thumb.

  ‘We’ll be okay,’ I said. I bent my head so my nose almost touched hers. Her eyes were shut, her lips slightly parted. I could feel her breath, warm against my mouth.

  My heart was beating fast. I wanted to kiss her.

  I’d never wanted anything so much.

  Too much.

  I don’t let people in.

  I pulled away, then twisted round and stood up carefully, using the bush we had slept under for support.

  ‘Come on.’

  I stretched out my good arm to her. The sun was an orange disc on the horizon. The air was still. The distant hum of traffic the only noise.

  Rachel stood up, silently, ignoring my offered arm. She kept her face turned away from me too, or maybe that was just a coincidence.

  Then, together, we dragged a complaining Daniel to his feet and set off to find someone who could tell us how to get to the Jefferson Memorial.

  76

  Rachel

  ‘I’m hungry,’ Daniel said for the tenth time.

  I took his hand. ‘Won’t be long now,’ I said.

  We had been walking for what felt like hours, though it couldn’t have been that long really. The sun was properly risen now, and there was loads of Monday morning traffic. Commuters were bustling about the busy Washington streets. Apart from the many people I’d asked for directions to the Jefferson Memorial, no one had taken much notice of us, even though it must have been obvious we’d slept outside. Our clothes were creased and dirty, and Daniel’s face in particular was covered with specks of earth.

  I guess big cities are the same everywhere. It’s easy to ignore what you don’t want to see.

  I didn’t know what to say to Theo. When he’d moved so close to me earlier my heart had practically stopped beating. For a minute I almost let myself believe that he liked me. As in ‘liked’. Big time.

  But then it was over and since we’d left the little park area he’d hardly said a word. I had no idea what I’d done wrong. Maybe when he got up close to my face he’d realised how ugly I was under all the dirt. Maybe he was just worrying about finding Lewis. And it was obvious his arm was hurting him badly. He held it gently, using his other arm like a sling.

  ‘I’m hungry,’ Daniel whined again.

  I was hungry as well, but I was more tired than anything. I’d hardly slept all night what with the cold and worrying about Theo and being terrified by the rustling noises all around us. I glanced at Theo. His face was drawn and horribly pale. He must be hungry too.

  We passed a busy pretzel stand on the corner of two busy streets in a business district.

  ‘Let’s sit down for a minute,’ I said.

  Theo slumped to the ground and leaned against the wall of some office block. He closed his eyes. I watched men and women in smart suits buying coffee and pretzels from the stand. Then I shuffled forwards, slightly away from the building we were resting against. I held out my hand and dipped my head.

  I had never begged before in my life, but I’d seen plenty of people do it at home in London. Sometimes they had cardboard signs round their necks saying they were hungry or homeless. I had to rely on my dirty face – and on Daniel, who huddled pitifully against me as I sat there. He was shivering from the cold air, even though the sun was really quite fierce now.

  A few minutes passed.

  Somebody pressed a coin into my hand. Change clattered down onto the pavement beside me. I quickly gathered the money into my lap and held out my hand again.

  It took about fifteen minutes to collect three dollars. Armed with this, I bought two large pretzels and shared them between us. The guy on the stand gave us further directions to the Jefferson Memorial. It wasn’t far now. We just had to keep going down Fourteenth Street, past the turn onto Independence Avenue, right down to something called the Tidal Basin – a little bay that the memorial stood on the edge of, apparently.

  We trudged on. Daniel was munching on his big pretzel, holding my hand. I could see trees and water up ahead. Then Theo pointed.

  ‘That’s gotta be it.’

  Set against the clear blue sky was a raised stone structure. At the top of some steps was a huge statue, covered with a roof and flanked on three sides by tall columns.

  We walked closer. There was hardly anyone about. It must still be very early. I walked round the base of the memorial. There was no sign of Lewis.

  ‘If he’s . . . he’s probably sweeping for us,’ I said as I reached Theo and Daniel again. ‘It’s what he’d do. Sweeping the area every hour or so to see if we’re here yet.’

  Theo squinted down at me, shielding his eyes from the sunlight. I couldn’t read his expression.

  ‘Let’s go up to the statue,’ I said. The air was still as we walked up the steep stone steps. The sun disappeared as we entered the memorial itself. The figure of Jefferson loomed high above our heads.

  ‘Who’s he?’ Daniel asked.

  ‘One of the American presidents, I think,’ I said. There was still no one about. ‘Why don’t you race round the monument ten times, Daniel?’ I said. ‘Warm you up. I’ll count how quickly you do it.’

  Daniel shoved his last bit of chewed up pretzel into my hands. ‘How fast will you count?’

  ‘Like this.’ I drummed a beat on my hands. ‘One. Two. Three. Yeah?’

  He nodded, then dashed off.

  Theo wandered over to the wall on the right far side of the statue. Some writing was carved there, in large, clear letters.

  He read out loud: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident.’ He turned to me. ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘It’s obvious,’ I said.

  Theo raised his eyebrows. ‘Not to me, smart-arse.’

  I blushed. ‘No, that’s what it means: “To us the following is obvious”. And then it goes on to say what’s obvious . . . that all men are created equal.’

  ‘Well, that’s a load of crap.’ Theo snorted. ‘People aren’t equal. Some have money and talent and power while—’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘It says “created equal” as in “start out equal”, deserve equal rights to . . . to . . .’ I searched the writing again. ‘To those things it says right there . . . life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’

  Theo stared at the words.

  ‘This is from the American Declaration of Independence,’ I burbled on. ‘They wrote it when they got independence.’

  ‘Independence from what?’ Theo asked.

  �
�From us. From Britain. Hundreds of years ago.’ I rolled my eyes. ‘Don’t you study history at your school?’

  Theo shrugged. There was an awkward pause. ‘Bet they didn’t have clones in mind when they wrote that.’

  I looked round at Daniel. He was still hauling himself round the statue. I could hear him checking off laps under his breath. Three. Four.

  ‘Hey, Rachel.’ Theo grinned at me, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. ‘I’ve got a history lesson for you.’

  77

  Theo

  I told her everything that Elijah had told me. I don’t know why. Once I started I couldn’t stop myself. It was a relief to get it off my chest. She listened silently. Sympathetically.

  Daniel ran up. ‘How long did I take?’ he panted.

  ‘Two hundred and twenty-three seconds,’ Rachel said instantly.

  I smiled. I was sure she hadn’t been counting.

  ‘Can we go to the toy shop now?’

  ‘Later,’ Rachel said. ‘Why don’t you do ten more laps? See if you can beat your record.’

  He ran off.

  Rachel looked at me. ‘All that, about who Elijah is and who his parents were. You know it doesn’t mean anything, don’t you?’

  ‘Of course it means something. All that terrible stuff they did is in me too, like it is in Elijah.’

  ‘Who says?’ Rachel frowned. ‘Anyway, didn’t you just say that Elijah hates his parents for what they believed? For what they did. That he’s tried to create life, not destroy it.’

  ‘Exactly.’ I clenched my jaw, feeling a terrible rage boiling up inside me. ‘He’s tried to be different, but he’s ended up exactly the same. Prepared to play God and experiment with people’s lives. Even to kill me to save himself.’

  Rachel shook her head. ‘No, Theo. That’s not the same thing. Who you are is up to you. It’s down to the choices you make, the things you decide to do with your life.’ She pointed at Daniel, still padding round the monument. ‘He’s got the same genes as you and Elijah. Look at him. He’s just a little boy. Not a murderer.’ She laughed. ‘Exactly when do these killer genes kick in?’

  ‘You don’t understand.’ The anger ripped out of me in a shout. ‘I am like Elijah. I’m tied to him by . . . by the exact same blood, even. I don’t care about other people. I look after myself. Only myself. Other people don’t matter. I hate other people.’