Isaura (Aberrant)

by Silver, Ruth

  I didn’t say anything, unsure exactly what to say. I grabbed his hand, pulling him along as I saw the trees grow thin as we reached the clearing. Staring up at the sun I glanced at the sky, realizing we’d been traveling north and the light above cast down as if it were noon.

  I pulled back from Josh’s grasp, spinning in a circle, staring up at the sky and then the forest we’d just traveled through.

  “What’s wrong?” Joshua asked.

  “It’s all wrong,” I murmured beneath my breath. Don’t you see it? I asked him. Joshua didn’t answer me. I took a tentative step back and felt my body free falling towards oblivion.

  ****

  My eyes opened and through the haze of beeps and machines attached to me, I pulled the plugs and sat up in bed. Glancing down I noticed an ugly gray gown covering my body. My feet were bare and my arms chilly as I climbed off the cot.

  It had all been a dream, a hallucination of some kind. Joshua wasn't here. I hadn't spoken with him since he'd left for Torv. My heart ached and stomach sunk. Walking took extra effort. The cold tile on bare feet caused me to shudder. I'd been drugged. I didn't know how long I'd been out. My vision was hazy and as I attempted to walk towards the door, my body swayed with each step. The white walls spun like a merry-go-round. The room blurred and I followed the motion as the handle to the door held me up. Pulling it open, I desperately roamed the empty hall searching for an escape.

  Joshua? Could he hear me? This had to be real. Why would anyone dream up this place? I received no response and as I navigated the hallway, I swayed from one side to the other as if the waves lapped against a small boat as I tried to acquire my footing. I fumbled down the hall. Hearing voices from around the corner, I found a door to my right, gripped the handle and pushed it open, stumbling inside.

  The room was dark and I felt around, grasping for a switch to turn on the light. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust again. Although the drugs coursing through my system still made things sway, my vision was clearer. Joshua? I mentally called out again, hoping he was nearby and at the same moment wishing he was out of harm’s way. The room I had escaped into was no different than the one where I'd been held captive. It was small and though empty of a subject, had a bed and wires prepared for whoever they were after. I didn't want to hang around any longer. Though my mind was in a haze, I pushed through the clouds and fog doing my best to focus. I waited a moment, pushing my ear against the door for the voices to fade before quietly turning the handle. Again I moved down the hallway, searching for the nearest exit in sight. Reaching the end of the hall I hit the button for the elevator, stepping inside.

  The elevator offered seventeen floors, not including the basement where I'd been stashed away. I pressed the button for the lobby, hoping no one would be watching. I'd stand out in the starch gray gown. The elevator dinged as I stepped out. Two armed guards stood by the door, their backs to me. Another guard was posted at the front desk.

  Coming out of the elevator, I waited for the guards to move. Taking a tentative step forward I felt a hand grab my arm, pulling me out of their sight.

  “What are you–” My words were cut off as a hand clasped over my mouth and I saw who grabbed me. Joshua? My eyes widened as I studied his face. Is it you?

  It is. He confirmed. He kept quiet by communicating telepathically. We don't have much time. Follow me, he insisted leading me towards a janitorial closet. “Take this. Put it on,” he instructed once we were inside the closet, keeping his voice to a minimum. Joshua handed me a change of clothes, black jeans and a black t-shirt.

  “Thank you.” I didn't ask him where the clothes came from or how he knew I was here. Those questions were for later. We needed to get out alive. Joshua watched the door, making sure no one was coming as I spent a matter of seconds stripping down. I wasted no time, knowing at any moment we could be caught. “How do we get out of here?” I asked, turning around, leaving the gown on the floor.

  Joshua pointed up. “The rest of the team is upstairs. We're not leaving. Not yet.”

  “What's going on?” I asked, relieved the drugs had begun to wear off. Joshua opened the door, peering out to make sure no one paid attention to us.

  I'll explain later. He assured me, hitting the button for the twelfth floor. The doors closed and I breathed a sigh of relief that we hadn't been spotted. It was only now that I had the opportunity to study Joshua and I noticed the black pants and matching long-sleeved shirt. The elevator doors opened and I gripped his arm, wanting desperately to find another way out. Whatever was planned, I wasn't sure I wanted to be a part of it.

  “We may not have much time,” I said. “Isaura had me in some sleep chamber?” I didn't know how else to describe what she'd done to me. “I told her about you, Henry, and Cate.” I whispered staring at him. I wanted him to see how desperate I was to get out of there. If we waited too long, there might be no escaping at all.

  Joshua let out a sigh as he led me down a dark hallway and into a room on the left side of the building. He knew where he was going. Stepping inside I was surprised to find my father Gavin, his brother Hunter, Aidan, Elsa and the advisors Henry had sent to Torv. “I found her,” Joshua told them as he led me into the small room and shut the door behind us.

  “What's going on?” I still hadn't gotten answers and I wanted some understanding of what we'd gotten ourselves into. “Where are we?”

  Gavin stepped forward, wrapping me in his arms in a hug. “Glad you're okay, kiddo.” It felt weird to hug the man I hadn't been particularly close with in quite some time, considering I'd thought him dead. He was growing on me, even if it was just a little bit.

  “I'm fine.” I said. They were all in the same black pants and matching black shirts. “Did you find Isaura? That's why you're here, isn't it?” There was a map situated on the table a few feet away. Gavin and Hunter stepped aside as I approached the table in the center of the room.

  Gavin was the first to answer. “In part.” He let out a heavy breath. Was he nervous?

  Hunter wasted no time in interrupting the awkward silence, “I'll tell her if you won't.”

  Although I'd met him briefly, right now I had grown to respect him. Gavin shot Hunter a look before explaining what they were up against, “The new government, the one we're responsible for putting in place, is already corrupt.”

  I sighed and leaned back against the table. “What kind of corruption?”

  “This place is a breeding ground. Their main facility,” Gavin answered. “It's how they plan on repopulating the entire country.”

  “I don't understand.” Scientists would work together, to try to cure the issues of infertility. It would take time but of course there'd be centers with research and medicine. What was so terrible that prompted Gavin, Hunter, Aidan, Elsa and Joshua to lead an uprising?

  “While you were put under, we believe they studied you, Olivia.” Hunter stepped closer, trying to offer me reassurances but all I felt was sick. My skin flushed, my stomach somersaulted, and I swallowed the bile rising in my throat.

  I pushed away from the table and took a step back. The only place to go was towards the wall and I felt the cold glass of the window at my back. “Isaura was in my head. She wanted to know about the Mindonsiphan.” I didn't care if Hunter wasn't aware of what it was, he'd find out if he was around us long enough. “Why?” I asked. I rubbed my temples. I wanted out of here.

  Gavin sighed, his eyes on me the entire time. “It's not all about her. Isaura and the new government know what you're capable of. She's informed them and made it sound terrible and scary. She's pegged you as a monster.”

  “No.” I crossed my arms and paced the length of the room. “They should know better! I'm not a monster.” I was growing agitated and upset but I wasn't evil. I wasn't a terrible and vicious person. I did what anyone else would do.

  Joshua stepped closer, his hands finding my arms. “Of course you're not. We all know that, but the problem is they don't. They see us for what we are. Rebel
s. We destroyed Genesis. We brought about the revolution.”

  “And they're here because of it!” I shouted and Joshua's hands clasped over my mouth.

  “You have to keep your voice down,” he warned me. “There are research labs surrounding this room. We could be found at any moment. Understand?”

  He dropped his hand and gave me an apologetic look. “Isaura has a lot of power. It's possible it was derived from something else,” Joshua admitted. “What we know is she has the power to persuade and to make others afraid of her.”

  “Jaxon could persuade people to do things.” I remembered that on our trip to Genesis.

  It wasn't unreasonable to think Isaura would try to do the same thing. “Why are we here?” I asked. “What are you planning to do to the facility?”

  “There's more to it than you think. They're studying people who have been injected with Mindonsiphan and they're running their own drug trials on women. Trying to get them pregnant with the drug.”

  “Is that possible?” I asked.

  Gavin shook his head. “Ordinarily no, but Isaura has a compound that when mixed with Mindonsiphan can do some strange things when injected.”

  “What strange things?” I stalked across the room towards Gavin. I needed more than he shared with me.

  “It can replicate the hormones needed in pregnancy.”

  “So what's the problem?”

  “It's against the women’s will. They don't have any idea what they're being injected with or the consequences of what might happen,” Hunter answered. “If they had a choice, it might be okay, but they don't. The new leader is rounding up women by the dozens and running genetic profiles on them. If he feels they're an appropriate match, he promises them wealth and fortune along with a healthy baby. He's lying to them.” Hunter elaborated, “And if we don't reveal the truth, no one will.”

  I rubbed at my forehead frustrated. “New leader?” It was too much to bear. “Do we have any idea how many women have undergone the injection?” If they were loyal to the new government, we would have no chance at all.

  “Right now, two hundred and seventy-two,” Gavin said.

  “How many so fast?” I couldn't believe it. There had to be a large number of beds in the building, but it didn't look as though they had the facilities to run such a huge operation. “When did they find the time to manufacture Mindonsiphan?” I glanced at Joshua, hoping he had a decent answer.

  “I helped before I returned to Shadow,” Elsa confessed. “I knew you had used your ability to save Drezden, Olivia. I had no idea what I'd involved myself in.” Her brow furrowed. “Believe me, if I knew I'd never have suggested it to Isaura.”

  “You worked with Isaura?” My stomach sank.

  Elsa cast her gaze down. “At the time, she was Chloe's boss.”

  Hunter eyed his watch. “We don't have much time.” He pulled out a dozen or so syringes from a black case he'd had on the floor all along.

  “What's that?” I asked wondering if they planned on injecting something in me. I wasn't going to trust them, even if Joshua was involved. I'd had enough experimentation! I was done with it.

  Hunter gestured towards the syringes and tossed us each a vial to go along with it. “We're going to save as many people as we can. It's an antidote.”

  “Save?” Again we were working outside the lines of right and wrong. Administering the drug without their permission was a dangerous game to play. “What will it do to them?” If they had been willing participants, even if I didn't agree with what had been done, I couldn't justify what we were about to do.

  Hunter pulled the vial from my hands. “Never mind. We didn't plan on you being here. You don't need to help.”

  “No.” I took a step forward, my eyes narrowed as I searched his face. “I want to help.” Maybe I did. I wasn't sure what to do, but I wasn't going to have someone else take that choice away from me. Hunter studied me skeptically before returning the vial to my outstretched hand. “The vial goes like this.” He showed everyone as he held it upside down. “Uncap the needle, pull it back to 1000ML.” He showed us the line. “Then at an angle pierce the rubber of the vial. The needle will go in. Push down on the syringe until the air is out of the needle and then pull it back to 1000ML again. Don't forget to tap the air bubble out of the syringe before you inject it into the patient or you'll kill them. Everyone should have an IV line that you'll inject the dosage into. We work in pairs,” Hunter announced. How had he been skilled with medical tools when we'd hardly seen them in Genesis? There wasn't time to ask.

  Joshua nudged my arm. “You're with me, partner.” He smiled and I wondered how he'd gotten into this mess. Was it Gavin's idea? Or Hunter’s? How had Hunter and Gavin reconnected in Torv? I had so many questions but they were all pushed aside as the door opened and Joshua stepped out first. I wanted to ask what happened after we injected the patient with the syringe. Would they wake up? If they did, what we were supposed to do, help them escape? I didn't have much time to consider my questions as Joshua and I tiptoed across the hall and into the first room. We had the twelfth floor. Joshua administered the antidote to the first patient while I stood by the door to make sure no one was coming. I held my breath, waiting for the young girl to wake up.

  Dark hair splayed out on the table as her eyes slowly fluttered open and I saw the bluest hue staring up at me. She moved her mouth but the words didn't quite come out. “It's okay.” I smiled down at her. “We're here to help.”

  I glanced back at Joshua wondering what the next part of the plan would be. We saved one girl, how was this any big mission? Any great step?

  “Come with us, please.” Joshua helped her stand. She had the same dazed look on her face I had when I'd first woken in the basement.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked, standing up unsteady on her feet. I helped her walk as Joshua opened the door and we rushed across the hall towards the next room. Sitting her down in a chair opposite the bed, I kept an eye on her while Joshua administered another dosage to a different patient. The same steps repeated themselves and we disappeared with her towards the third room.

  By the time we'd finished the twelfth floor Joshua and I had rescued fifty-two women. Most had questions, unsure where they were and what had been going on. All had been in a dream-like state where they'd been promised wealth and fortune.

  “What's going on?” a red-haired woman asked me. “Where are we?”

  I didn't know how to explain it. I was glad Joshua offered an answer. He raised his arms to get everyone's attention, the commotion and chatter hushed to a minimum. “Did any of you volunteer for the pregnancy initiative?” A murmur moved through the crowd. No one said yes. “We've provided you an antidote to the medication you've been given. It will take a few hours to run its course.”

  “What did they do to us?” another voice echoed through the crowd.

  “They put you all under a heavy sedation. They did the same to me,” I offered, trying to quiet the crowd.

  Hunter stepped off the elevator. “We're done. Let's go!” he announced gesturing towards the elevator. “Ten at a time. We're going down to the second floor. Olivia you're with them.”

  I gave him a curious look and glanced back at Joshua.

  You'll be fine. Go, Joshua told me. I squeezed into the elevator with the other women, heading down to the second floor. I had no idea what awaited us.

  The elevator chimed and I stepped off first. Hundreds of women crowded the hallway. Hunter stepped out behind me, grabbed my arm and led me down the corridor through the massive pack of women and towards a long mirror attached to the wall. “We need you to do your thing.”

  “My thing?” I asked already suspecting but not sure it was the best idea.

  Gavin chimed in. “Yes, Olivia. They need a safe place to hide out for a while. Spade seems like the place to transport.”

  I'd never held a window portal open long enough to accommodate so many people. I had to try, though: They all deserved a second chan
ce. My hand reached out, touching the mirrored image and within a few seconds the metal shifted and rippled to a silver glow. The shimmer expanded as I stepped aside leaving the window between here and Spade open. I glanced around. “Where are Henry's guards?”

  “I'm here!” chimed the tallest one. “You go through first,” I announced. “I need you to secure the other side. Make sure they know we're coming and we need help.” The guard hesitated before he stepped through and vanished. “Come on, all of you, one at a time.” I instructed sending them through the portal.

  The line of women never seemed to end. From a distance I could hear the elevator ding and another group of ten followed to the back of the line. My attention focused on the window, the open portal between points to ensure it stayed open.

  The building shifted with the slightest quake. “What was that?” A woman's voice echoed in the crowd as gasps and screams erupted around us in fear.

  “Quickly!” I ushered them through faster. Isaura must have been close. I eyed the far end of the hallway. I hadn't heard the ding of the elevator and hoped everyone had already made their way to the second floor. Joshua where are you?

  He pushed through the crowd coming to stand beside me. “Right here,” he announced beside my ear. The hallway was filled with fearful chatter and though it was loud I could hear him clearly. “Come on!” He helped them through while I focused my attention on steadying the mirror with each quake.

  “What's going on?” another woman shouted from the back of the line. A third tremor erupted through the building sending everyone bouncing on their feet. “What was that?”

  Joshua steadied their hands, helping them into the shimmering portal as I hoped they made it through safely. One by one they all made it to the other side. Gavin and Hunter followed then Joshua. “I'm right behind you,” I promised, waiting for him to step through. He did and as I stepped forward the portal shut, the mirror fell to pieces at my feet, tiny slivers and then vanished. A steady laugh erupted through the corridor.