Torn

by Avery Hastings

  “I’m not her,” she said desperately. “You have the wrong person.”

  “We’re here on orders of your father,” one of the guards said. “Mr. Robert Morrow.”

  “My … my father sent you?” Davis was breathless. “How could he have?”

  “So you are Davis Morrow.”

  Davis swallowed hard, caught in her lie.

  “Get her ID,” one guard, a trim man of average height with a small mole just below his left eye, instructed the other. The second guard, redheaded and lean, patted her down, pulling out the fake ID she’d brought into the city. Davis cringed as his hands wandered briskly over her body.

  “Right person,” the redheaded guard said. “But this ID is about as real as my grandma’s teeth. How the hell did you get in here? Never mind. Let’s go.” The guards ushered Davis into a nearby building; the one with the mole hummed the whole way. They stepped onto an elevator that ascended to the rooftop at lightning speed.

  “Where are you taking me?” Davis fought to keep the fear from her voice. They’d said they’d come on her father’s behalf, but the helicopter waiting for her on the rooftop was very real, and their words could easily be nothing but a lie to ensnare her.

  “We’re going back to Columbus,” the redhead said, holding open the door to the helicopter. “Get in. Now.”

  “How do I know you’re not lying?” she said. “How can I be sure you’re not taking me back to quarantine?” The other guard stopped humming and sighed impatiently.

  “Ms. Morrow. With all due respect, it doesn’t matter whether you know for sure. You can get in of your own volition, or you we can forcibly take you. We have no orders other than to bring you back to your home in Columbus. Do you have another option?”

  Davis gritted her teeth but climbed into the waiting chopper.

  “Columbus,” the guards told the pilot. For the first time, Davis began to allow herself to hope it was true. Still, her anxiety didn’t subside. She wouldn’t be able to relax until the chopper touched down in Columbus. Every part of her told her to stay alert. She wouldn’t feel completely safe until she was there, in the arms of her family and friends. She realized with a horrible flash that she didn’t even know whether they were all still alive. What horrible surprises awaited her there? She took a breath, trying not to think about it. She couldn’t; it was too terrible.

  “But how did you know I was here?” she asked, once her heart had slowed and her breathing had returned to something resembling normal.

  “Reports came in a couple of days ago that you’d escaped TOR-N along with a young man. Since Mercer Wells is from Durham, we put people on it. There have been flyers distributed all over town. Alerts were sent out to everyone’s tablets. Someone called in a tip last night around eleven p.m.”

  The party. Someone must have spotted her there and given her away. Had it been Mercer or someone else? Had he betrayed her a second time? Her heart raced, and shame filled her being. If it wasn’t Mercer—because it was too painful to think that he had lied again—who could it have been? Had people from TOR-N located him, too—and if so, would he be sent back?

  Three hours later, the helicopter hovered over the roof of Davis’s building. Columbus spread below her like a dream; she was overcome by excitement at the thought of returning home. But imagining the city without Cole provoked a wave of fresh pain. There was something different about the city, too, that she couldn’t pinpoint from so high above. It was almost as if she were seeing it through a different, foggier lens. Something felt off. When she peered closer, she realized what it was. The buildings didn’t shine as brightly as they used to, or as the buildings in Durham had. The streets were empty, yet somehow cluttered. Broken tree limbs lay about and cars rested abandoned on the sidewalks, their doors hanging open. Very few people were walking about. She fought off a pang of worry. A roar from behind her caused her to swivel in her seat, and as the chopper rotated slightly, preparing to land, she gasped, realizing at least one reason why no one was in the streets.

  The arena where the Qualifiers had been held, and where the Olympiads were held every year, was jam-packed. The biodome was retracted, as it was only once a year, for the games—and she could see straight in. The games were in full swing, and from the sound of the crowd, it was a close race. A small part of Davis couldn’t believe she wasn’t there herself, competing. A larger part of her could hardly believe she’d ever thought it possible, or that that had been her life. There was something about the scene that felt larger than life—the athletes at their prime; the course designed for an entire year by Columbus’s brightest innovators; the way the entire city turned out for the event. It was hard to believe they were all under the threat of death. From the air, they looked invincible.

  Her thoughts fell away as she identified several small figures waiting atop the roof. It wasn’t until they touched down on the roof of her building that Davis really allowed herself to believe she was home to stay.

  Davis barely waited for the helicopter to fully touch down before she leapt from it and crossed the roof, leaping into her father’s arms. Her dad scooped her up, whirling her in a circle like he had when she was a child, and after he set her down, she was shocked to see tears in his eyes. Her father had always been stalwart; now he was overcome.

  “Sweetheart,” he said, drawing her close again, his deep brown eyes brimming over. “You can’t know how much we’ve missed you. Having you home … it’s like a dream come true. You don’t know how happy it makes me.” She leaned into him, breathing in his familiar, oaky scent and allowing her own tears to spill down her cheeks.

  She wanted to stay like that forever, soaking up his love, but the feeling of urgency inside her was overpowering. “Dad,” she said, pulling back, her voice thick with tension. “You’ve got to do something. TOR-N isn’t what you thought—they’re abusing patients, they’re stealing money, no one has good food or care—”

  “I know,” her dad told her, and her mouth dropped open in shock.

  “Then why—”

  “I didn’t know when I sent you there. I thought it was the best of the best. But when you ran away, and they reported it, they tried to keep me at bay. I got suspicious. I had always wondered why you never answered my videos. It all seemed weird, the way they wanted to keep you away from me. So I sent people out there to check it out. They told me what it was like.” He grabbed her shoulders, looking deep into her eyes. “My baby,” he said simply. “I’ll never forgive myself for sending you there.”

  “We have to do something,” she told him. “You didn’t know. But now we do, and we’ve got to fix it.”

  “We’ve removed all the patients to the hospital here in Columbus,” he assured her. “They’ve been made comfortable.”

  “Made comfortable.” Davis pulled back. “I don’t understand. Aren’t they receiving treatment?”

  “They’re getting treatments to ease their discomfort, sweetie,” her dad told her. “But most of them are near death. Only a dozen cases have survived, including you. Everyone else is dead or dying. But the good news is, the scientists think it’s contained. Even if there’s no cure, the disease should eliminate itself soon.”

  “By eliminating the people it’s infected,” Davis said, her voice stiff. Her father frowned. She could see in his eyes how helpless he felt. She realized then that he looked more tired than when she’d seen him last. His skin was sallow and his eyes were less bright. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I know you’ve tried.”

  “Davis,” he started, his face tortured, “apologizing isn’t enough. I know that. I sent you into danger. I didn’t give you a choice. I’ll never, ever forgive myself.”

  Seraphina’s face flashed through her mind, and the faces of the others from TOR-N: the old lady who liked to help out in the craft room; the boy who’d taught them all yoga. Were they still alive or had they succumbed to the disease?

  “I forgive you, Dad,” Davis said, wrapping her arms around him once agai
n. “You were just trying to save me.”

  “I was. But I should have done more. I’m your father. It’s my job to protect you.” He kissed the top of her forehead, and she leaned into him. It was such a simple gesture, one she’d taken for granted her entire life. “I’ll never forgive myself for letting you out of my sight,” he told her. “Especially after what happened with Vera.…”

  Davis drew back. “What do you mean?” she asked her voice panicked. “What happened?”

  “She’s gone, sweetheart,” her father said. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I thought … of course you wouldn’t have known. I tried to find her,” he said. “We both did, me and Terri. We called her parents, went to their house. They say she ran away and they can’t find her. No one can. Everyone assumes she was paranoid about the disease. We have no idea if she survived. I’m so sorry.” He pulled her into a hug again, kissing her on the forehead. “We’re so glad to have you back, honey. We’ll keep searching for Vera.”

  It wasn’t until her father walked her down to her old bedroom and she closed the door behind her—seeing her mother’s medal for the first time in months, seeing pictures of herself and Vera plastered tucked into her gilded bedroom mirror—that she collapsed with emotion.

  She cried because her friends had died, and her mother had turned out to be someone unrecognizable, and she’d lost the one person she’d ever loved beyond measure, and the world was falling apart around her. Davis looked around her at the objects that had once held meaning for her but that now seemed foreign, and she realized she no longer knew where she fit. She didn’t know how to stop feeling sad.

  She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the door open. It was only when Fia climbed up onto the bed next to her that she realized her sister had entered the room. Their dad stood in the doorframe, smiling tenderly.

  “Looks like someone else missed you,” he said.

  Davis shifted on the bed, winding her arms around her little sister. She breathed in her familiar, baby powder scent and buried her face in Fia’s fuzzy black hair. Her heart lifted.

  “Fi pea!” she exclaimed, wrapping her little sister in a hug. The sight of Fia—looking even taller and older after just a few months apart—made her smile, when she hadn’t thought it was possible. She wrapped her arms tighter around Fia’s narrow, birdlike frame, so grateful to have her sister alive and healthy and sitting beside her.

  “I thought Daddy was lying,” Fia whispered in her ear. “But I made you a welcome home cake just in case. Mommy helped me.” Davis laughed, burying her head in her sister’s dark hair.

  “That was sweet, honey,” she said. “I missed you so much.” Her words didn’t begin to explain how she felt. Everything had looked so bleak a second ago, and it still was. But Fia was a golden beacon of hope. A reason to keep going. She was lucky, and she knew that if Cole and Vera were there they would both agree. Davis lifted her head to see Terri standing a few feet behind Fia. Her smile was warm and her eyes brimmed over with tears.

  “Davis,” she said, her voice unsteady. “We’re so happy to have you home.” Davis stood, releasing Fia, and moved toward Terri. Terri, who had been there for her for the past four years, loving her as if she were her own. Terri, who had made her snacks before ballet and taken her to lunch, just the two of them, and talked to her about boys and growing up. She’d always taken Terri for granted—resented her simply for being the woman who had replaced her mother. Now she saw Terri and realized that the whole time she was searching for her mother, a mother had been right here, waiting for her to accept her love.

  “Thank you,” she said to her stepmom, pulling her close. Terri looked startled at first; then she smiled.

  “There’s nothing to thank me for,” she told her.

  “You’ve always been such a good mom,” Davis said quietly. “And I’ve never told you how much I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” The intensity in Terri’s voice brought fresh tears to Davis’s eyes. “You’re my daughter. I love you and Fia both more than anything.”

  Davis felt the emptiness that had always existed somewhere within her begin to fill. For the first time, she felt nearly complete. The void Cole had left with his death, of course, would always be there. And Vera’s disappearance had caused her more devastation than she knew how to handle. No one would ever replace Cole—not Mercer, not any other guy she might one day begin to care about. Today would have been the happiest day of her life, if only her love and her best friend were there to share it.

  An hour later she sat eating cake with Fia and Terri. Her father had already left for the Olympiads, where, as city prime minister, he was required to make a speech. Davis had wanted to go, but her father had ordered her to stay put and get some rest. She didn’t have it in her to argue. But now that she was here, once again doing nothing, thoughts of Narxis were plaguing her. Her dad had said the scientists had given up. How could that be possible? How could they be sure the disease was no longer a threat? It was troubling. Davis smiled at Fia as she chattered, and she complimented her little sister’s baking, but her mind was racing.

  “I have to go rest,” Davis said, standing up. “I’m not feeling well,” she amended, when she saw Terri’s look of concern. “This news about Vera is overwhelming. I need to lie down.” Terri nodded, but she looked worried. She wrapped a protective arm around Fia and gazed up at Davis with concern.

  “We’ll be in the rec room,” she told her. “We trust you, Davis. We only just got you back. Please don’t jeopardize that.”

  “I wouldn’t.” Even as she said it, she felt a pang of guilt.

  Davis squeezed Terri’s hand and pecked Fia on the cheek, then hurried to her room. Once there, she composed a note to Terri. She didn’t want to worry anybody, but she wasn’t sure how long she’d be gone, and there was no way she could put them through the agony of wondering whether she was okay—especially after she’d lied outright. But she had to get to the Slants, to find Thomas Worsley. She was certain there was a cure. Even without Cole and without Vera, she had to find one. They’d want her to. All hope couldn’t be lost—not when she still didn’t know whether Thomas had stumbled across any developments. Even if he had, it was likely that the Priors would have ignored them. She needed to see his progress for herself.

  She waited an excruciating half hour before she snuck downstairs, laid the note on the kitchen counter, and slipped out the door. The movie they were watching—a classic Disney film from long ago—was playing loudly in the other room. She was confident they hadn’t even heard the door latch shut behind her.

  The trip to the Slants was different from what she remembered. It was both more ominous and less treacherous. The banks of the river were no longer guarded at all, but they were overgrown and strewn with garbage. Davis approached a raft stored up along the side of the riverbank and, seeing no one around to claim it, climbed in and rowed herself across. She was struck by how alone she was; the last time she’d done this, Cole had been with her. The memory seared its way under her skin, making her feel more alone than ever. And yet she was proud of herself for carrying on. It would be so easy to give up—to crawl into bed and sleep and sleep until this whole nightmare was over. She had even more strength than she realized. She was able to hold it together. She wasn’t giving up on figuring out how to cure Narxis. She no longer had any care for whether she was doing something wrong. She had to get across, and quickly.

  The atmosphere on the other side was like a free-for-all. People swarmed the streets, and the state of affairs was more desperate than before. Skinny children wandered in ripped clothing, eyeing her curiously. Davis didn’t stand out as much as she used to—that much she knew. She’d lost weight at TOR-N, and she was wearing a nondescript sweat suit. Still, she was clean and relatively strong. Some of these children looked abandoned, like no one had cared for them in months. She promised herself she’d talk to her father about it later. What had happened to her city? How had Columbus, once a s
uperpower, fallen apart so quickly?

  She wove her way toward Thomas’s lab; if anyone would know anything, it would be him. But as she approached, she was overcome by a sense of dread. The buildings leading up to the lab were no longer intact. Piles of charred wreckage were everywhere. Something awful must have happened—a fire or a looting. Her dread mounted as she turned the corner and faced the remnants of Thomas’s lab. It was completely reduced to rubble.

  Davis felt her throat tighten. Was Thomas okay? What had happened? Where was he, and where was Cole’s brother, and the rest of his family and friends? Could they have died in the riots? She felt horror and shame for having been gone so long. She should have been there, making sure that Cole’s family was okay in his absence. She should have forced her father to do something. Surely, there was something she could have done.

  “Lookin’ for Worsley?”

  The voice was harsh, craggy. Davis turned, frightened.

  “Yes,” she said, trying to sound brave. “How did you know?”

  “This was his lab,” the old man said. “No one stares at a pile of junk like that unless they’re missin’ what it used to be.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “Worsley’s fine,” the man said, leaning heavily on his cane. “Has a new lab now. North of here. In the old parking garage. You see that scaffolding?” He hobbled to the corner of the street and waved northward with his cane. Davis squinted. She couldn’t see anything.