‘What sort of cure?’ Will asks.
‘From what I understand, the cure could stop people’s genes mutating when they are overexposed to Lysartium. It would stop people getting tainted, so everyone can come above ground. Maybe it could help you?’
Will shakes his head. ‘The doctors won’t be certain what’s wrong with me until they’ve done a full diagnosis. Who knows what they did to me in the hospital. Even if the cure could help, if his grandfather is in the ARC, surely getting his cure is impossible?’
‘I don’t know,’ I reply. ‘But I want to try.’
‘So, what do we do?’ he asks.
‘I think I should tell M and see if he knows a way to get in contact with the ARC. Do you think he can help us?’
He pauses as he considers my question. ‘I don’t know.’
I sigh and rub my eyes tiredly. ‘Kelsey has a bad feeling about him and after last night I’m beginning to trust any hunches she may have. April trusts him though, we should be able to trust him.’
‘You don’t seem certain,’ he says.
‘I don’t know what to feel. After being in that hospital I don’t know who to trust anymore.’
‘You can trust me,’ he says, smiling. His smile is shaken from his face though, as he violently coughs. I can feel the colour drain from my face as I watch him gasping for breath. He’s worse than I thought.
‘I know that,’ I reply, when the coughing subsides. I try to hide the worry from my voice. He is obviously trying to be strong and doesn’t want me to think he’s sick, but something’s definitely wrong with him.
‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine. Seriously, I’m not much worse than I was before. Plus, the doctors are working on fixing me here. I don’t want you to worry about me.’
‘I’m always going to worry about you,’ I reply. He looks like he will argue with me, but instead sags into his bed. Our short conversation has taken a lot out of him.
‘If you insist, but you have to let me worry about you too,’ he says.
‘I think that will be okay,’ I reply. I notice a doctor standing down the corridor that leads from the back of the room, so I stand to leave Will’s bedside.
‘I’ll be back to check on you in a bit,’ I tell him.
He slowly nods. His eyelids are heavy and already half shut towards sleep. ‘They keep rats here, you know?’ he says, with a smile.
I smile back at him. ‘You can show them to me later. I’m glad you’re okay Will.’ I’m not sure if he hears my reply as his eyes have drifted shut and he already appears to be sleeping.
I leave Will and walk over to the doctor. Seeing Will so sick has me worried and even though the idea of more testing terrifies me, not being able to help Will scares me more. If there’s even the slightest chance my talent will help the doctors fix him, I have to help them out.
‘Hi, I’m Elle Winters,’ I tell the doctor, ‘and I’m ready to start any tests M wants.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
It’s almost dark outside by the time I finish at the clinic. The doctors spent hours running a series of tests on me. Thankfully none of them were too invasive, but they still made me feel uncomfortable after what I’ve been through. When I’m released from the clinic for the day I feel a rush of relief. The doctors had been kind enough to me, but the clinic had felt a little too similar to the hospital for my liking.
I am slowly making my way back to my tent when I see a figure step out of the shadows of one of the trees.
‘Ryan?’ I ask, as he steps into my path. Even in the dim lighting I can see how tired he looks. There are bags visible under his eyes and he looks like he’s aged several years since I last saw him.
‘Hey Elle. I’m glad to see you got out okay,’ he responds.
‘Thanks to you. I don’t know how you knew where to find me and what was going on, but I’d still be there if you hadn’t come for me.’
‘Some help I was. You should’ve been the one to come with me last night,’ he replies, his voice thick with disapproval.
‘No, I’m glad you took Will. I’m not sure he or Kelsey would’ve made it out if I’d gone first.’ I try not to allow the weariness I feel right now to seep into my voice. He needs to know he did the right thing. ‘How did you know? I mean, how did you manage to find me in the hospital? How did you even know I was in trouble?’
The more I think about it, the weirder it seems. I barely know anything about him and yet he seems to keep turning up to rescue me. He’s clearly hiding things from me, but I have no idea what.
‘It was only once the inhibitors were down that I could find you. Let’s just say, I knew you needed my help.’
‘What do you mean?’
He shakes his head. ‘It doesn’t matter, all that matters is you’re here and you’re okay.’
I sigh. Ryan’s always been evasive; it’s not surprising to find he hasn’t changed. ‘So, you’re with these people…’ I motion my hands back towards the camp. ‘Do you live here?’
‘No, on both counts.’
‘Then what are you doing here? How do you even know where this camp is?’
‘I have an understanding with M and I knew this was the safest place to bring you.’
‘So it’s safe here?’
‘For now. I see you’re wearing an inhibitor band,’ he says, quickly changing the subject and nodding at the black device around my wrist.
I draw my wrist up to my chest and lightly touch the band, before pulling my sleeve down over it. ‘Yes.’
‘Have you tried to use your talents without it on?’
The way he asks me makes me pause. His voice is gentle and it’s like he knows how terrified I am of taking the band off and hurting someone.
‘You can’t control them, can you?’ he continues.
I slowly shake my head, which causes him to swear and start pacing. ‘What’s wrong?’ I ask.
He swears again, so I reach out and touch his arm. ‘Ryan?’
‘It may already be too late,’ he says, between his teeth.
I frown. ‘Too late for what? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.’
‘Your mutation is unique. It is always changing and the more talents you absorb and acquire, the more difficult you will find it to control yourself without that band.’
‘There’s nothing I can do to change what has been done to me,’ I reply.
He stops pacing and grabs hold of both my arms. ‘Promise me you won’t let them give you any more talents.’
‘I don’t know why they would…’
‘Damn it, Elle, promise me.’
‘Okay, okay, I promise.’
His shoulders slouch and his arms drop from holding mine. I watch him closely, trying to understand why the hell he’s acting so strange, but I can’t figure him out.
‘What would happen if they did—’
‘You should focus on helping your friends find the cure,’ he says, effectively cutting my question off.
‘Well, we’d have a much better chance at finding one if Aiden was out of the hospital,’ I grumble. ‘I’m not even sure if M will help him. Is there anything you can do?’
Ryan’s eyes darken. ‘Aiden was the one who helped you when I couldn’t come back, right?’
I nod. ‘I’m worried something’s happened to him because of helping me…’
‘I’ll try my best.’ His cuff chimes and he glances down at it, then back at me. ‘I have to go.’
Before I get the chance to respond to him, he disappears. There’s no warning whatsoever, he doesn’t even make a sound as he evaporates from sight. I feel cold after his departure and I find myself constantly looking at the inhibitor on my wrist as I return to my tent.
I can’t figure out why he’s concerned about my talent. What does he know that I don’t? Why does he think it’s too late?
When I get back to my tent I find Sebastian sitting on the ground out front of his, looking up at the sky above.
‘Hey,’ he says, as I approach.
‘Hey yourself,’ I reply, taking a seat on the ground next to him.
‘I heard you agreed to more tests. How were they?’ he asks.
I shrug. ‘Tests are tests.’
He looks at me closely. ‘If you ever want to talk about the hospital … you know you can talk to me right?’
‘I know,’ I reply, with a smile. ‘There’s not much to say though. The place was a prison and they treated me like a lab rat. I survived. That’s all there is to it.’
We sit in silence, and I pull my arms tightly across my body to warm myself from the chill in the evening air. I’d rather the chill biting into my skin though than the closed in walls of the hospital.
‘What’s that cuff you’re wearing?’ he asks.
‘This?’ I ask, lifting the inhibitor band up to show him.
He nods. ‘You’ve been playing with it since the moment I saw you this morning.’
‘Oh, I didn’t realise. It’s an inhibitor to make me normal. I can’t control the talents they infected me with.’
‘Can I see it?’ he asks.
I jerk my wrist in close to my body. ‘I can’t take it off.’
‘I wasn’t going to, I just wanted a better look at it.’
‘Oh, sure.’
He gently takes my hand and touches the device, lightly twisting it to look at it closer. ‘Is it that bad?’ he asks, looking up at me.
I try to reply, but the words fail to form in my mouth. I simply nod, though I can feel tears welling in my eyes. I quickly look away. ‘They made me into a monster. They’ve broken me into a million pieces and the only thing holding me together is that stupid band around my wrist.’
Sebastian’s hands go still around my wrist and I turn to look at him.
‘You could never be a monster,’ he says, his eyes focusing on mine. ‘I know these talents you’ve been given are testing your limits, but I don’t believe for a second they have left you broken. You will find a way to control them and you will be stronger for it.’
‘I hope so,’ I reply. I pull my wrist back from his hands and hold it in close to my body.
Sebastian shuffles closer to me and looking at him in the moonlight I am struck by the similarities between him and Ryan. They are both so protective of me, and it’s good to feel like I’m not alone.
‘Do you trust them?’ I ask Sebastian. ‘The people here in this camp, I mean.’
‘April does,’ he replies.
‘I’m not asking if she does, I want to know what you think.’
‘Yes, I think they can be trusted. Not once has anyone tried to use me for my talent.’
‘Did they do that in North Hope?’
He nods. ‘Every morning I was subjected to tests and hours of drills to improve my talent.’
‘I thought you liked it there.’
‘I did at the time. The afternoons were spent relaxing with the other students and if you stuck to the rules it was a pretty nice lifestyle.’
‘Are you sad you left?’
‘Not one bit. If I had stayed there I wouldn’t have seen April again and I wouldn’t be able to see you. I definitely wouldn’t be able to do this…’ He looks me deep in the eyes and slowly draws closer. Taking a measured breath he leans forward to kiss me.
I want to lean towards him too, but instead I draw back. ‘I can’t,’ I whisper.
He frowns and pulls back himself. ‘I thought you wanted this … us?’
I look away, out into the darkness of the trees opposite us. For such a long time Sebastian was my world. I gave up my entire life in the ARC and risked everything to find him. He had been everything I wanted, he is everything I want, but right now I can’t handle it.
‘I don’t know what I want right now,’ I say, my voice so quiet it’s almost a whisper. ‘I want to feel whole again and I want to help find this cure.’
‘But me?’
I glance up at him. His face is blank of emotion, but I know him well enough to know he’s putting up a wall to cover how he feels. ‘Just give me some time. I have a lot going on right now. Things I need to focus on if I’m ever going to feel like myself again.’
‘Right,’ he says, his voice dipping low. ‘Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here waiting. Until then …’ He holds out his hand to shake mine, which makes me laugh. Instead I pull him in for a hug.
‘I would wait forever for you,’ he whispers, softly into my hair. When he pulls back he smiles. ‘I should go,’ he says. ‘You’ve had a long day and I’m sure you need to get some rest.’
‘Yeah, I’m pretty tired,’ I admit. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
I stand at the same time as he does and watch him as he walks to his tent. He gives me a quick smile before he closes and zips the entrance shut.
I sigh and slowly traipse the last few steps to my own tent. Kelsey is fast asleep inside with April curled up next to her. I zip the opening shut silently and find my way to my own bed.
I crawl onto the lower bunk and lie back, staring at the slats of the bed above me. My body feels exhausted, but my mind is wide-awake as a million different thoughts fight for my attention. I need to help Will. I need to find out if Dr. Wilson has a cure. But the thought that keeps me awake is: what stopped me from kissing Sebastian? Why is that too much for me right now?
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
I wake to a strange fluttering feeling against my cheek. When I peek one eye open I can see the top of Kelsey’s head, her face pressed up against mine.
‘What you doing Kels?’ I ask.
‘I’m giving you kisses,’ she responds. The fluttering feeling against my cheek continues and I’m fairly certain she’s simply blinking her eyelashes against it.
‘I’m not certain you’re doing it right,’ I respond, groggily.
She giggles. ‘Of course I am. They’re butterfly kisses silly.’
‘Ohhh,’ I reply. ‘Butterfly kisses. I thought butterfly kisses where like this!’ I grab a hold of her stomach and pull her down next to me to tickle her. ‘Is this how butterflies kiss?’ I ask, tickling one side of her tummy.
‘No!’ she squeals.
‘How about this?’ I tickle the other side.
‘Nope!’ she squeals, between giggles.
‘Hmm, maybe it’s like this!’ I tickle both sides of her tummy and she wriggles around squealing with laughter. When I finally stop, we’re both puffing for breath.
‘I give up!’ I say. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever learn to do it right.’
‘Maybe next time,’ Kelsey says, seriously.
I stand and look over to the bed Kelsey and April slept in last night. It’s empty.
‘Did April say where she was going?’ I ask her.
‘She had to leave camp to go to school,’ Kelsey replies, shuffling across the bed to jump off and stand next to me.
‘Back in East Hope?’
Kelsey shrugs.
‘Did she say when she’d be back?’
She ponders my question. ‘Maybe later.’
I consider our options. We hadn’t exactly been given a schedule for what to do with our time here, and I don’t think the doctors will need to see me again so soon, but maybe a trip to the medical centre would be a good idea.
‘Should we go visit Will?’ I ask.
‘Yeah,’ Kelsey says, a big grin forming on her face. She can barely contain her excitement at the thought of seeing him again. I can barely contain my dread. What if we get there and he’s become worse?
We quickly get ready to go and are barely out of the tent when Sebastian comes running over to us from the main area of the camp. ‘I’m glad I caught you. You’re needed in the control tent straight away. M wants to see you.’
‘We were just going to see Will.’
He shakes his head. ‘He’ll have to wait. M wants to see you now. I think it’s important.’
‘Oh, okay.’ I glance down at Kelsey who holds my hand.
‘I can
take her?’ he suggests.
‘Yeah, that would be great.’ I crouch down so I am eye level with Kelsey. ‘We can go see Will later. I need to see M first, so Sebastian will look after you for a while.’
‘Okay,’ she responds, as Sebastian takes her by the hand.
The control tent is a flurry of activity this morning, though I doubt this place ever slows down. I wonder at what they’re all doing in here, they all seem so serious. I’ll have to ask April about it once she gets back. As soon as I’m inside a woman directs me to M’s office at the back of the tent.
‘Thank you for coming,’ M says, as I enter. April is already here and seated at one of the chairs facing his desk.
‘I thought you were at school?’ I ask April, as I take a seat next to her
She shakes her head. ‘Didn’t get a chance. I have my teachers there manipulated, so I won’t be missed.’
M eases himself into the seat opposite us and I glance between him and April, attempting to gauge what the urgent matter could be. April seems as oblivious as I am. ‘What’s wrong?’ I ask M.
‘The recruiters have raised an alert. They’re looking for you,’ M replies.
I’m not exactly shocked by the news. ‘Shouldn’t we be expecting that?’ I ask.
‘Yes, it was to be expected, but what’s problematic is they’ve placed you as a level one target. They think you’re crucial to their research into giving people talents. They will stop at nothing to get you back.’
I look at April and can see the worry on my face reflected in her eyes. This sounds bad.
‘Do they know about this place? Do they know I’m here?’ I ask, turning back to M. The thought of being found and taken back to the hospital has me panicked. I can’t go back there.
‘No,’ he responds. ‘But I think it’s important we train you to use your talents so you can defend yourself.’
His suggestion surprises me, but I already know how I feel on the matter. ‘I don’t want to learn to use them.’
‘Elle, you have to,’ April says.
‘You don’t understand. They’re too powerful and I can’t control them. I’ll only hurt people if I let them loose.’
April looks to M and I can see her eyes pleading him to convince me, but he gives a small shake of his head and faces me. ‘I won’t force you to do anything, but you will be more likely to hurt people if you don’t learn control. Just think about it for me.’
The ARC 03: Fractured Page 13