“Ok, so how did we both inherit it and not anyone else?”
“Jonathan married a woman who had a pure element. And I believe he killed only people with the pure fire element, so when he had children, they inherited fire and somehow his wife didn’t get it from him. It was all fine for them, but the faulty genetic code carried over even though it was too weak to show,” he said. “Then it came all the way down to us and it showed, but slightly altered, so we kept our element.”
“Yeah, but aren’t chances of us getting the actual disease too low?” I said. I was not nearly as good at genetics as Paula, but I still remembered some things from high school, and the percent of genes inherited from great-grandparents wasn’t exactly that significant.
“Look at it like this,” he said. “Great-grandpa has the gene for the disease, grandma gets part of it, then our mother gets part from each of them, then we get a part from all three of them. I guess that’s what it takes to develop the disease.”
“Huh,” I said. “I’ve no idea.”
“Well, I’m not an expert on genealogy, but it seems possible.”
“Ok, so we have the disease because of the stupid genetics,” I said. “Got it. But I don’t get it why would our great-grandpa want to keep a pure element when he didn’t have one.”
“You sort of answered your own question.”
“How?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“He didn’t have his own element, but he wanted his family to have it,” Oliver said. “He obviously figured it out that it could work. And when it actually worked, he decided to protect that, so he found an effective way to keep the family’s reputation of a pure element. Having a pure element family was very important and could make you rich, if you knew how to play things out right.”
“Great, he wanted power and money just as anyone else,” I said. “But who was the idiot that signed the damn contract and how can it still be in effect?”
“He had a lover. Her name was Rosalia.” He smiled. “She had the magic disease too. He had a family with her too and he made that deal with her. He’d give her money for killing off anyone from his family who dared to marry a wrong person and she could also collect the element. It was a very tempting deal for her and she took it. Her children continued it and so on. As far as I could check, the money is in one bank in Las Vegas and there are a few safes in there. Each safe opens by using an element detector similar to the one you saw on Pandora’s Box. So no one can open it by killing off some random person because it opens for family only and you can open only one safe in a week. That’s to prevent the person from opening more safes with the same element. By that time the stolen element usually vanishes.”
“But that happened ages ago. How did they have that kind of technology?” I said, wondering how I hadn’t even suspected that my own family would be so unusual and complicated.
“Oh, Ria. Those things have been around for a long, long time. They aren’t really technology. They are normal locks enhanced with an element,” he said. “You can’t even imagine how many things they have kept from us. It’s like a whole new world.”
“Great, we’re related to a family of assassins,” I said sarcastically. “How cute! I can’t believe they’re actually having no problem with killing someone related.”
“Hey, they don’t even know us. Besides, money and an element, especially a pure one, are a very good reason to off someone without remorse.”
"So, why aren't they just killing us off? It's not like our great-grandfather would know."
"There must be someone else included in the deal, but I haven't figured that one yet," he said. "Someone who controls what happens."
“When did you realize you had the disease?” I asked.
“When I was thirteen.” His face darkened.
“Did you tell anyone?” I said, wondering what I would have done if I had gotten it so early.
“Of course.” He smiled sadly. “I told to mom and dad.”
“And?” I said. There had been many days when I had just sat there and thought how my parents would react if I told them. I would have actually, if Oliver hadn’t stopped me. I hoped he'd had a good reason.
“They sent me into an institution,” he said. His words hit me like a brick wall.
“What?”
“They didn’t want me around. They said I was dangerous and let the Council decide what to do,” he said. “But since dad is in the Council, his vote saved me from being killed instantly. They sent me to one of their research centers and did all kinds of experiments on me. One of those included me killing a person with an element.”
I stared at him with wide eyes. No, that just couldn’t be true. My parents would never do such a thing. They were kind and loving and…
“You don’t believe me,” he said, a spark of amusement in his dark brown eyes. “Well, it’s true. If you want to check, go tell them about yourself and see what happens. They’ll say you went somewhere fancy to university, just like they said I had gone to some fancy school.”
“How could they have done this to you?”
“Can’t ruin the family’s reputation, right?” He smiled. “Besides, they didn’t want me to end up killing my baby sister. That would have been tragic. They actually believe I got the disease from some girl, so that's why they told you what they know about our great-grandfather. They can't afford to lose you too. You're the only thing they think they've got.”
“Why did those people force you to kill someone?” I said, realizing Adrian had been lucky actually.
“They wanted to see what happens.” He shrugged. “I have no idea what they were doing behind that glass.”
“That’s horrible,” I said.
“I didn’t want to kill those two people. I really didn’t,” he said. “I fought it at first, but then they used many elements around me and I couldn’t control it… I couldn’t. I was too weak.”
“How old were you then?” I said, placing my hand awkwardly on his shoulder. It felt so weird to hear all that coming from him.
“Sixteen,” he said. “I escaped when they were preparing me for another experiment. I should have killed them, I suppose, but I didn’t. I just knocked out those who were in my way. I’ve been running since then. But because I could tell everything to the press, after a few years they agreed to forget what had happened and promised not to hunt me. Mom and dad needed me because they couldn’t use the school story anymore, so I had to reappear. It all went back to normal just because I promised not to tell. And I’ve spent the rest of my time researching and hiding, since I know the only reason they made a deal was that they couldn’t catch me at a place where they could dispose of me. Guess why I’m avoiding family meetings.”
“So they know you can keep an element?” I said.
“Nah, they don’t,” he said. “I managed to hide that since they didn’t expect it.”
"But there is a file that says there was some guy who could do it, so I think they do know it's possible."
"That guy was killed, and they think it was an isolated case, so it's not something that would naturally come to their mind," he said.
“Wait, but that would mean they think you’re probably killing people around!” I said.
“They don’t care as long as the people I kill are anonymous,” he said. “It’s all about politics, power, money, greed… they don’t care about us as long as they’re getting all they want.”
“Why are they hiding all of this from us?” I said. “There seem to be so many magic disease carriers that it’s almost impossible that no one knows about it.”
“Well, some people do know,” he said. “But everyone’s afraid, and the magic disease carriers aren’t really of trusting nature. Others prefer to turn their heads the other way.”
“I don’t know what to say.” I sighed. I hated the world I lived in. I really did.
“There’s nothing else to say.” He looked deep into my eyes. “Only survival, sis. Only survival matters.”
<
br /> “So is there some magical cure for the disease, or they are waiting for it to mutate and become something entirely else?” I said. If we already had magic disease carriers with their own element and those with sub-element, maybe soon there would be no magic disease carriers. Maybe elements would just… heal back to normal.
“No cure yet,” he said. “And I’m not clairvoyant.”
“Great,” I said. “I wanted to know this and now I feel like ignorance was much better.”
“Sorry, sis,” Oliver said in a tone that clearly showed he wasn’t even a tiny bit sorry, but he didn’t have a reason to be. It wasn’t his fault. He'd been forced to become what he was, and it wasn’t strange that he was a bit insane from all of it. Except…
“Did you kill that guy just to get inside Pandora’s Box or because you couldn’t take it anymore?” I looked at him.
“I killed him because he was the one who approved experimenting with the magic disease carriers and because he was an asshole who raped girls,” he said, his voice ice cold. “The Box opening thing was a bonus. Oh, and talking about the Box, I hope you got all you needed. But you two kids are pretty reckless and… just stupid. I had to get your fingerprints off that damn screen and the door. I don’t understand why you’re trying to pull off movie stunts when you’re clearly not ready.”
“Umm, thanks,” I said. Well, crap. We’d been much more careful the first time. I couldn’t believe we actually hadn’t thought of using gloves. I guessed we hadn’t because it hadn’t fitted with our outfits. How stupid indeed. I didn’t even want to think what would have happened if someone had found our prints there.
“So, will you keep sitting on two chairs, or you finally made up your mind?” Oliver gave me a wide grin. I frowned.
“I’m not…” I started to say. “That’s none of your business!”
“You’re right.” He raised his hands up in surrender. “Just decide before they decide for you and you lose them both.”
“You’re pretty smart for a crazy brother.” I smiled.
“Nah, I’m just pretty.” He laughed.
“Do you think I can live with someone even though there’s a risk I could kill him?” I said. Naturally, I wouldn’t have asked him that if Paula had been available. But I couldn’t talk to her about this.
“If you truly love him, then everything is possible,” he said. “Even living with him. Jonathan didn’t kill his wife, nor his kids.”
“Yeah, but he killed other people and had a lover!” I said.
“Well, if you really want something…” He smiled.
“I don’t know.” I ran my hands through my hair. “Will you stay here for a while or disappear again?”
“Hard to say. If someone realizes I’m here, then I’ll have to disappear,” he said. “But if you need anything, just call. Of course, try to say as little as possible over the phone."
“Thanks.” I smiled. I’d never thought there was another reason why I hadn’t seen him a lot.
“Well, I have to go,” Oliver said, getting up. “If I’m not wrong, your friends are coming here.”
“Oh, great.” I sighed. Just what I needed. But it was high time I dealt with this mess.
“Good luck, sis.” Oliver smiled at me and walked out of the room.
Chapter 29
Surely enough, Paula and Michael were in my room in no time. And they had spent twenty minutes yelling at me for not calling them back, not wanting to explain how I got the papers and who knows what else. I’d stopped listening.
“Look, the important thing is that we have the papers,” I said. “It doesn’t matter how and where I got them. You didn’t listen, so it’s not my fault.”
“But Ria, you could have…” Michael started to say, and I shook my head.
“Just, please, don’t say I could have gotten hurt because I’m going to kick you out of here,” I said. “You two did something stupid too, so don’t come to me now with stories about doing risky things.”
“But you have…” Paula said.
“I’m not discussing it!” I said, reaching for my mobile phone. “I’m going to tell Adrian to bring the papers here so you could investigate.”
“Adrian, huh,” Michael said, rolling his eyes. “You just can’t live without him, can you?”
He was jealous and he had every right to be. I didn’t say anything, and Paula looked from me to him and then back.
“I figured something out,” she said, and at that moment Adrian entered the room, carrying a backpack full of papers. He was a bit surprised to see Michael and Paula there and he walked over to us, dropping the backpack down.
“It’s all here,” he said. I took the backpack and gave it to Paula.
“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll see what I can do with it.”
“I’ll help too,” Michael said.
“Sit down,” I said to Adrian, because he was the only one standing. The rest of us were sitting on the floor, on my awesomely soft carpet. He just shook his head and remained where he was.
“Ok, we need to talk about our plans,” I said. “Summer holidays are almost here.”
“You’re right,” Michael said. “You have two exams left, but I’m sure you can pass them. So, I had in mind something…we could spend our holidays together somewhere, away from other people.”
“Umm,” I said, surprised. I hadn’t expected such an offer.
“Yeah, you can do that.” Paula smiled. “What I was trying to tell you before… I figured there are some pills which Michael could take so you could be together without problems.”
“No, I can’t make you take some pills,” I said.
“But it’s fine!” Michael said. “I tried them and nothing bad happened.”
“You tried some weird pills?” I frowned. “Are you out of your mind?”
“I love you, Ria,” he said. I glanced at Adrian and saw his expressionless face. He didn’t want to give anything away. And Michael had to be the best boyfriend on the whole planet. I couldn’t believe someone would be willing to do such a thing. He’d do all that for a girl who couldn’t even stay true to him. Guilt was starting to eat me from inside.
“What are you going to do?” I asked Adrian. I needed to get some sign from him or anything. I wanted to know how he felt about this.
“I’m going to stay here,” he said. “It’s not like I’m going to have holidays if I want to finally pass the damn exams.”
“Do you need me here then?” I said, my pulse speeding up. It was almost like I’d just asked him if he loved me. I needed the answer.
“No,” he said. “Actually, I better go now.”
And just like that he walked out of the room. I sat there, barely breathing. He didn’t need me. He could do without me. Why the hell did that hurt so much?
“Wow, the world suddenly seems like a better place,” Michael said, glad that Adrian had left. I was too dumbfounded to say anything.
“Ria, don’t you worry,” Paula said. “Everything’s going to be fine. We’ll take care of you, and I won’t stop until I find the cure. Then you and Michael can be happy.”
It sounded so good. I could have a perfect boy, who would forgive me for all the shit I’d done no matter what. A boy who loved me so much that there was nothing he wouldn’t do for me. And I knew he’d make me happy. I could be that selfish bitch Adrian had accused me once of being and I could use Michael to have everything I’d ever wanted. Maybe even a family, because I was sure Michael would come up with something to solve that too.
“So, what do you say?” Michael said.
"I…" I started to say, my mind in overdrive. I was feeling something for Adrian, but I wasn't sure what. Maybe it was just the disease thing. But what if it wasn't? What was he feeling? Could be something. Could be nothing. What if everything he had done to me was because he didn't know how to deal with what he was feeling for me? I realized I was trying to find excuses for him. God, how sick was that? Yet I could be right.
"I love you, Michael," I said," but I can't come with you. I'm staying here."
"But why?" Michael said, looking as shocked as Paula.
"I'm not ready to risk anything," I lied. It had become so easy to lie to them that it scared me. But I needed time to figure it out what I wanted. "We can go some other time when I learn how to control myself better."
"But…" Paula said.
"No more buts!" I said. "I've made my decision."
"Well, if that's what you want…" Michael smiled. "I don't mind staying here with you."
"Hey, it's not like I'm going to go somewhere without you two, so I'm staying too." Paula laughed. "You just can't get rid of us!"
"No, I can't, can I?" I said. Michael reached out for me and we kissed. Everything was perfect again. I got up and they both looked at me in surprise.
"Where are you going?" Paula eyed me suspiciously.
"I'm going to tell Adrian that I'm staying," I said, wondering would they try to stop me. Michael's face became serious, but he just nodded.
"Go, we'll be waiting for you here," he said.
I was walking down the hall, thinking what I would say to Adrian. I figured he didn't have to know the true reason why I'd decided to stay. I wouldn't let him use my own feelings against me again. Just that was easier said than done. A wave of extremely cold air stopped me dead in my tracks. What the hell was going on?
I shivered and rubbed my hands down my arms. There was only one place from where all this freezing air could be coming. And that meant something was wrong. I ran to Adrian's room, using enough of my element to keep my body warm. The door of his room was slightly ajar, which was surprising. I couldn't feel anyone's element inside, so I swung open the door and nearly screamed as the cold air threatened to come into the every pore of my skin. The room was completely covered with ice and Adrian was nowhere to be seen.
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Thank you for reading!
Table of Contents
Chapter 01
Dangerous (Element Preservers Series, Book 1) Page 25