Persephone’s Curse

by Sandra Bats

  I was more than happy to tag along, remembering a power outage in the labs that left many girls dead from hypothermia.

  ◆◆◆

  On the way outside, we stopped by the kitchen. Jayden instructed Kathy to pass candles out if people needed them — one candle per person and none to children under thirteen. It was impressive how quickly he switched into his leader role.

  Glancing at me, Jayden said that this reminded him of a power outage in the labs a few years ago. I muttered in agreement and he seemed to understand that I remembered the exact same thing.

  We waded through the snow until we reached the little, rickety shed that housed the generator. Cam forced the door open, heaping up a huge pile of snow.

  “Doesn’t look too good,” Cam pointed out. The red warning light on the generator’s display indicated that it wasn’t getting enough fuel.

  “Maybe just a clogged supply pipe?” Jayden mused, but it sounded more like forced optimism than something he truly believed. We moved back outside and over to the three white diesel tanks, their yellow signs warning: Danger! No smoking! No open flames!

  I watched as Jayden and Cam each climbed a tank and opened the tops, shining into them with flashlights, confirming what Cam had assumed. We were almost out of diesel. The small bit that was left pooled on the wrong side of the tanks, thus leaving the generator without fuel.

  “Great. Somebody messed up. Whose job was it to check the diesel?” Jayden asked as he jumped down from the ladder. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. “We gotta tilt the tank,” he ordered.

  I figured the floor tiles from the atrium were our best chance to jack one side up. We returned inside, while Cam went to get a wheelbarrow. Briefly alone in the atrium, Jayden squeezed my arm and promised that everything would turn out all right, that nobody was going to freeze to death.

  The boys worked hand in hand. I felt like a third wheel as they lifted the floor tiles and debated the best approach for the next few hours. I followed them along, helping Cam stack the tiles under the tank, while Jayden lifted it by utilizing a steel pipe as a lever. Once done, we hurried inside, and Jayden rushed off to call an emergency assembly while Cam restarted the generator before everything completely cooled down.

  ◆◆◆

  An hour later the auditorium was lit by a few candles, mostly around the stage and some down the aisle so people could see what was going on. Once Cam had done a quick headcount — everybody had turned up — Jayden got up on the stage and everybody fell silent when his voice cut through the dark.

  “Ok, I want everyone to remain calm. As you’ve noticed we had a power outage earlier. The diesel is running low. With this blizzard, we need to change our routine and allocate our resources accordingly. As for now, heating is our number one priority. Lights, general electricity and hot water will remain turned off. Please make sure all doors and windows are kept closed at all times. In addition, we will turn down the heat a bit, so you might have to gather your warmest clothes and more blankets to be comfortable. We need to stretch the leftover fuel until we find a way to get more. Now, about candles, Kathy is handing them out, but you all know the rules. No more than one per person. If you don’t like it, take it up with me, it’s not Kathy’s job to argue about that. Questions so far?”

  The dark hall erupted with people talking over each other, clearly frightened — everything turned chaotic. Jayden’s sharp whistle cut through the noise, his instructions sharp and clear.

  “Calm down! Wait for Cam to point out whose turn it is to speak.”

  Diane went first but she didn’t ask a question, instead remarked it would make sense to move the kid’s classes towards noon, ensuring they had daylight. Jonah asked for a change in routine as well, explaining that doing laundry without hot water was going to be difficult and everybody should hold off laundry if possible.

  Ana was next. She was an unusually shy teenage girl who had kept afloat pickpocketing on the streets. I’d rarely heard her talk and when she spoke now she voiced what most of us were likely wondering. “Even with everything cut back, how long will we have before the heat stops working?”

  Jayden didn’t pause long enough for the fear in Ana’s question to take root. He announced that we still had two or three days, making it sound as if this were ample time to find a solution. Still, it didn’t stop Chloe from following up by asking what would happen if we didn’t find more diesel — somehow an important but redundant question, as everybody seemed to know the answer and so Jayden’s response was diplomatic.

  “Not finding more isn’t an option.”

  He sounded so sure of himself. So confident that even I, who’d seen the shock in his eyes earlier, was tempted to believe him and revel in a false sense of security.

  There was a short pause and reluctantly Cam announced that Alex would be the next to speak. Even in the dim light I could make out the tension that took hold of Jayden, who prompted Alex to speak with a short jerk of his chin.

  “First, I’m sure we’re all wondering, whose fault this is. I mean, somebody had to check the diesel tanks and fucked up, so who was it? Did you forget to delegate it or did someone not do his job? If I’m going to freeze to death, I at least want to know who killed me.”

  His voice was fake and sweet, but Jayden calmly smoothed it out, saying he’d been very busy finding a solution instead of seeking someone to blame, but that he would investigate that. Alex smugly asked his second question.

  “About the light. If it’s dark in the hallways it’ll be dangerous, won’t it? How are you planning on keeping people safe?”

  His words sent a chill down my spine, I was convinced they were more of a threat than a concern.

  “We’ll have candles and, although of course it’ll be different, this is still our home and we’re all still safe here. Just try to be careful on the stairs,” Jayden responded cheerfully.

  “You sure you can keep that promise?” Alex asked again.

  Jayden’s voice dropped the slightest bit, his threat was almost not audible when he responded. “Alex, you really needn’t worry about your safety. I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for you.”

  Silence descended over the auditorium before Jayden loudly clapped his hands once. “All right then. If you need to know anything else or have any helpful ideas, come talk to me anytime. And don’t worry, we’ll get through this.”

  Jayden dismissed the assembly. Amidst the chaotic commotion of people leaving the hall, hurrying to prepare for the next few days in one way or another, I stared at Jayden as he jumped down from the stage. There was rigid determination in his eyes when he inclined his head towards the door in a request for me to follow him.

  We’d barely made it past the door of his office — he’d just locked it — when he crushed me to his chest and kissed me feverishly. His eyes were locked on mine and his voice urged me to believe him. “If he wants to hurt you he’ll have to go through me.”

  “Jayden,” I tried appeasing him.

  “No. We both know he meant to threaten you, meant to shake us up because he wants to get to me. I’m telling you, I won’t let it happen. You’re safe here.”

  “I know,” I reached out and brushed my thumb over his lips. “Stop overreacting.”

  Jayden made a disapproving sound, nipping at my lower lip. “When it’s about you, I’m always overreacting.”

  I made a face, ready to respond that he was being ridiculous, but was disrupted by Cam knocking at the door, causing us too jump apart. Jayden unlocked the door.

  “Thought I’d be finding both of you in here,” he exclaimed, going straight to the desk and falling into one of the chairs.

  “Maybe it’s time for Alex to go,” Jayden started the conversation both of them seemed to be dreading as he sat down as well.

  Cam rubbed a hand over his face. “There’s still the problem of him knowing too much. Besides, you can’t kick him out for making a few stupid remarks,” Cam pointed out.

  �
�Oh, come on. Stupid remarks. He threatened her, and you know why he’s doing it.”

  Cam snorted. I on the other hand had no clue what they were talking about. When I asked, Jayden sighed. “Alex blames me for having met Maria, his late girlfriend. It was back when we were still in training as guards. Our shifts were switched at the last minute because I qualified for the sniper regiment. When he filled in for me, that night he met her. Instead of being happy he met her, he hates me for how miserable he is now.”

  Jayden ran a hand through his hair. “I hate that we don’t have a better option to deal with this.” He blew out a heavy breath. “Ok, he hasn’t done much but talk idiotic stuff since he grazed me with that bullet, so I’ll let this slide. But we’re still keeping an eye out for him.” Jayden reached into the drawer of his desk, pulling out a small switchblade. “I don’t think you’ll need it, but I want you to carry this with you just in case. Maybe it’ll scare him off.”

  I raised an eyebrow and carefully took the knife, slipping it into my pocket. “You serious?” I asked.

  “I don’t joke about knives. Weapons, in general,” Jayden responded a little more lightheartedly.

  Cam changed the topic, asking about possible solutions for the diesel problem. The three of us tossed a few ideas around.

  “How about the storage facilities downtown?” Cam asked.

  “You mean the place they store and refill the trucks? I’d have to check out security, but why not? They’re close at least.” Jayden looked up at me. “You want to come with me later, check it out?”

  It was difficult to seem calm and not overeager when just the way he looked at me made me feel warm and fuzzy inside, but for the time being, Cam seemed oblivious to our changed behavior, or at least he didn’t breathe a word of it if he noticed anything.

  Nineteen

  Jayden

  During patrol rounds, I could barely see ten feet through the snowstorm. It was annoying and, even worse, it was dangerous. We wouldn’t notice any attackers coming until they were literally in our faces. Elin and I walked in silence; talking over the noise of the storm was too much effort. After two hours in the cold, I could see Elin’s teeth chattering and I wasn’t far from doing the same. Doing jumping jacks every few feet or sprinting short distances didn’t help much to keep us warm. Kathy showed up halfway through patrol with tea for everybody. It wasn’t the tastiest, but I would’ve been satisfied drinking hot water to stay warm.

  Three hours into patrol my teeth chattered as well. Elin was shaking so hard she wouldn’t be able to hit anything if we were attacked. The other guys on duty weren’t doing much better. At the end of our four-hour shift, I almost hugged Cam and Jonathan who relieved us to cover the next one.

  We didn’t have much time to warm up, though. In eight hours, Elin and I’d have another patrol shift. Before that, we wanted to check out the storage facility in town. I rummaged around in my desk, looking for a map. Elin returned with another cup of tea, gently putting it down in front of me. Her nose was red from the cold and she leaned against my desk, her slender fingers wrapped around her cup, grinning at me. “I have to make sure to keep you warm.”

  “Oh, you don’t need tea for that, sweetheart. Thinking of you is enough,” I responded.

  Flirting with her came easily, now that she let me get away with it. She pressed a kiss to my cheek.

  “You’re so cheesy! Does that usually work with girls?”

  I chuckled. “I don’t know. You tell me.”

  She giggled a little and I just had to kiss her. Needless to say, we took a bit more time warming up than was necessary before we left for town.

  ◆◆◆

  Taking the motorcycle meant we were faster, but it also meant the wind was harsher. Elin hid her face against my neck. When she tucked her hands into my pockets, I instantly felt warm despite the snow stinging on my face. I grinned at the thought that a few weeks ago she’d been hesitant to wrap her arms around my waist. Now she basically crawled into my back without blinking.

  The streets were icy; driving was no fun. The cold air numbed my cheeks and despite my gloves, my fingers grew stiff. The streets were deserted, so we at least didn’t have to look out for military patrols.

  I drove to the nearest storage facility I thought of. One further away could’ve been a smarter choice, but we really didn’t have much time. We also wouldn’t want to drive stolen diesel trucks across town. I rolled to a stop a good block from our destination.

  When Elin climbed off the motorcycle she rested her gloved hand on mine. I pulled her closer — sitting on the motorcycle our faces were on one level for once. I kissed her softly, her tongue peeking out to trace along my lower lip. She leaned forward to brace herself against the motorcycle and I pulled her more towards the front of the bike.

  “Careful! Hot exhaust pipes.” I muttered my warning against her mouth, cherishing a few more seconds with her before we had to make our rounds. We didn’t draw much suspicion looking like a random couple on an evening stroll as we kept an eye on the fenced-in area. We had ample opportunity to hold hands and kiss occasionally.

  The snow was lighter in town. It had to pass through thick layers of smog first, which melted most of it. It barely coated the ground, nothing close to the masses we had at home. Without the heavy snowfall, we could see well enough to make out when the guards changed positions, how many of them there were and which sections they checked most frequently. Unfortunately, we couldn’t figure out which trucks were to be filled with diesel and which ones weren’t. We’d just have to take our chances.

  We’d just rounded the side of the compound when I spotted the dark red motorcycle parked across the street. I’d have recognized it and its bald driver anywhere. I stopped, cussing under my breath as I whispered to Elin.

  “Whatever happens, don’t take a word I say seriously!”

  She gave me a confused look, but he was already approaching us. He was about as tall as me, but bulkier. He commonly used his size to intimidate people. He knew better than to try that with me though, it hadn’t been of any use the last time we’d met. He stared right at me, one word left his mouth as a single challenge.

  “Quinn!”

  “Rowan,” I responded, not offering him any other sort of greeting.

  “Didn’t expect to see you hanging around here. Isn’t this a bit far from home?”

  I didn’t catch his bait. He had no clue where we lived, but he sure wanted to know. He eyed us up, probably checking for weapons. I did the same. There was the obvious gun in a holster under his jacket. I guessed a knife or two in his boots. All in all, he was carrying pretty lightly.

  “We weren’t hanging around, just passing by,” I responded. Reached for Elin’s hand and moved to drag her along. It was the first time Rowan even gave her a second glance. A sly grin moved over the bastard’s face, as he scrutinized her. He couldn’t know what she meant to me. He’d use her against me the next chance he got.

  “I see, gonna get busy tonight, eh? If she’s into a bit more action, we could always take turns,” he spat, making it sound like a reasonable offer.

  Elin gasped in anger, she was surely about to give her own response. I squeezed her hand to stop her. “I don’t share, Rowan.”

  “A pity! She’s ravishing.”

  He extended his hand towards Elin’s cheek. She jumped back the same moment I grabbed his wrist. Maybe I pressed a little tighter than necessary. He gave me a puzzled look, maybe he had a hunch she wasn’t just a hookup. I didn’t wait for him to make up his mind.

  “Seriously, don’t touch her. I don’t want her thinking of you when I screw her later.”

  Oh man, Elin was so keyed up next to me, she pulled her hand from mine. I couldn’t exactly check in with her about her feelings right then. At that point, I had to make sure Rowan believed my only interest in Elin was getting her into bed.

  “You know, my job offer from back then still stands.” Dude tried to keep his voice meaningful and cryptic. H
e sure liked his dramatics.

  “My answer’s still the same. Was nice seeing you. Let’s try to not do it again in the future.”

  I took Elin’s hand, not giving Rowan time to respond before I pulled her with me. We had just put about thirty feet between us and him when he once again called out to me with my last name.

  I stopped, my hand automatically reaching for the gun inside my jacket. I didn’t turn around but waited for him to speak. Instead, I heard him approach us and mentally prepared for an attack.

  “Glad you’re only passing by, you know. I’d hate for you to get caught in someone’s crossfire.”

  When he didn’t say more, I dragged Elin along, itching to get as far from Rowan as possible. We trudged back to our motorcycle in silence. When we finally arrived, and I looked at her, Elin let me hear it.

  “What an asshole!” Her voice was a whispered snarl. “And you don’t want me to think about him when you screw me later? I know you were just saying that for theatrics, but did you really have to lay it on that thick? Eww, and don’t get me started on that talk about sharing the action. What am I? A plaything?”

  I let her ramble. She deserved calling him all the names she could think of. I was just glad she’d understood that I’d simply played along.

  “Who’s that guy, anyway?”

  “Rowan’s a rebel leader. Used to work in the labs, though. He’s a merc. Works for whoever pays the most. He offered me a job as his right hand once, even a position for Josh and Cam. We declined because he wanted Cam to abandon Nigel for it. Said he had no use for a little kid.”

  Elin made a disgusted face then she sighed. “I thought the rebels were on our side?”

  “It’s not that easy. He’s not our friend just cause he’s our enemy’s enemy. Sure, he hates the government as much as we do, but he’s willing to accept any consequences in order to harm them. He doesn’t mind casualties. He thinks acts of terror that kill civilians are a way to force the government to change. He even attacked the lab once, tried to blow it up, not minding all the girls he would’ve killed.”