EVO Nation: EVO Nation Series: Book One (science fiction/ urban fantasy)

by K. J. Chapman

  “Who’s going to deal with that one, then?” says arrogant guy. His breath spills over me and is thick with alcohol and tobacco. “Seth said he ain’t EVO.”

  “I’m spent, you’ll have to do it,” says Jude.

  All I can think about is Adam. He isn’t EVO; they’re going to kill him.

  “Why me? I killed the woman. Make Seth do it,” says arrogant guy.

  “Seth couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat,” says Jude. “And anyway, I’m asking you to do it.”

  Arrogant guy obliges and a gunshot blasts out. I can hear my screams in my head, yet nothing leaves my mouth. I swear my heart has stopped beating. Physical pain sears in my chest like a white hot wave of fire.

  “Load them on to the plane and stick the stiffs in the luggage hold. We can’t leave them here,” Jude orders.

  “What about Lovick?” says arrogant guy.

  He knows Adam’s name.

  “He has been manipulated. He still doesn’t remember that’s he’s one of us, but I’ll right that once we arrive,” says Yvette.

  “Take his gun and cuff him with the rest of them for now,” says Jude.

  A surge of relief fills my chest. He is alive, but just as sudden as a lightning strike, the air is squeezed out of my lungs again. Adam is EVO, and more importantly, he is a member of the E.N.C.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  Arrogant guy carries me up the flight stairs and bundles me into a seat, allowing his hands to rest longer than necessary on my butt. I expect it’s the only time he gets to feel a girl, seeing as I already know he’s a total prick and I’m only semi-conscious.

  He straps me in, and something cold and heavy like a handcuff clips around my wrist. I’m at an awkward angle, and as he sits down beside me, my body slips over until I’m almost face down in his lap.

  “She really does like me,” he says, laughing. A few others laugh with him.

  “Stop dicking around, Ty,” says Jude.

  Ty sounds like the sort of name this idiot would have. Ty pushes me up from his lap, his hand cupping my boob in the process. I feel my blood pressure soaring and nausea washes over me at his touch.

  My head rests against the cool window. The glass vibrates as the engines roar into life. They must have a pilot seeing as they put a bullet in our pilot’s head. I know the others are probably seated just feet away from me, a metal cuff on their wrists, and a horrific awareness of everything going on around them.

  I think of Maggie holding me when the van flew over our heads, and the painful realisation that the gun shot may not have killed Adam, but it has killed someone pangs in my chest. They have killed Boyd. Boyd and Norah are gone. I had a grandmother for barely more than a day.

  Warm tears silently streak down my face. Boyd was already as good as dead with his gut wound, but if Maggie has reacted to the sedation the way I have, she would have heard the whole thing; she would have felt what I felt when I thought it was Adam. Has Golding and Isaac experienced the same with Norah?

  Adam is E.N.C. The thought rolls around in my brain like a ball of nails. It literally hurts to think about it, but it hasn’t changed how I feel about him. The Adam I know isn’t a bad man. There is no way that once Yvette gives him all his memories back in full that he’s going to change. He won’t turn into a Ty for god sake. Keep telling yourself that, Teddie. Nothing has gone right in my life, why should my relationship with Adam be any different. I’m jinxed.

  What is going through Adam’s head now? He must be so confused. Is he scared? I want to hold him, and kiss him, and tell him that everything will be okay, but I’d be lying. My thoughts are so draining.

  I think I fall asleep.

  ***

  I straighten myself up in my seat. I must have sunk back towards Ty because my bad arm is throbbing like crazy as the blood rushes back to it. He stirs- a little snore startling me.

  Feeling my wrist, I know straight away that the cuff I wear is almost identical to the ones that held Golding’s gloves in place- a sedation cuff. I can’t use my ability.

  I push my hair out of my face and rub at my dry eyes. We’re sat in the very back seats. The cabin is dimly lit, but I can see recognisable heads spaced out every couple of seats. Everyone is accompanied by an E.N.C member. Judging by the lack of movement, they must still be under sedation.

  Adam is closest, sitting directly across the aisle. He’s slumped in the aisle seat with a man beside him who has pulled his cap down over his eyes. The majority of the E.N.C. members are asleep.

  Ty continues snoring beside me. He is tall and toned. Not as stocky as Adam, but a similar height. His skin is sun-tanned and his short hair has a blonde tint that you only get in the summer time. He is an attractive guy with strong features. Pity he’s a douche. No amount of looks can help with that personality.

  The butt of a hand gun sticks out of his waist band. I’m not sure if I can get it out without him waking. Edging slightly closer, I try to get a clearer view. If I could just slip it out in one fluid movement—.

  He starts awake, looking at me bewildered for a millisecond. “Hey, sleeping beauty,” he says, smirking. He pulls the gun out and turns it over in his fingers. “Is this what you were interested in, Red?”

  Red? He has a nickname for me now? I slump back down in the chair.

  “What would you have done if you got it?” he asks. “Did you even think that far ahead?” His eyes are a dirty blue and they mock me.

  “I would have stuffed it into your crotch and relieved you of your man hood.” I force myself to face him, keeping my expression blank, unreadable.

  “It’ll take more than a bullet to relieve me of that, Sweetheart,” he says, lifting my chin with the barrel of the gun. “You’re a pretty little thing, ain’t ya? What’s your name?” I pull my face away from him and stare straight ahead. “Jude, mines mobile,” he shouts.

  Jude shuffles between the seats and makes his way down the aisle to us. I’m surprised by him. He is older than he sounds; I’m guessing late thirties. He can’t be much taller than me and is slim built, but there is something authoritative about him.

  “What’s your name, Princess?” he asks. He leans over me, scrutinising my face.

  “Teddie.”

  “Hey, Red, you’re okay to tell him your name, but not me? I’m hurt,” says Ty.

  “Maybe, Daugherty, if you spoke more with your mouth and less with your balls you’d fair a little better?” says Jude. “Get your ass up and go sit up front.”

  Ty deflates a little, but slides out of the seat, pushing passed Jude in a sulk.

  Jude slips into his place beside me. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to hurt you with the van,” he says, watching me rub my arm.

  “You’re the Telekin?”

  He nods and some of his long, brown hair shakes loose from his ponytail. He brushes it back with skinny fingers.

  “What grade are you?” I ask.

  He smiles and shrugs. “Grades are bullshit. I’ve seen so called grade one’s produce grade four results if the situation calls for it. Have you ever seen an EVO grading scale? No, me neither, like I said- bullshit. I’ll let you in on a secret- don’t think about your ability as a separate part of you, think about it as you. Its strength comes from the power you possess in here.” He taps my forehead gently. “Don’t let anyone define you, Teddie.”

  “I’m a Telekin too,” I say. I have no idea why I’m telling him this. I think back to him ordering Ty to kill Boyd and guilt consumes me. I start to sob.

  He doesn’t react. “Have you ever met another Telekin?” he asks.

  I shake my head and wipe at my cheeks with the heels of my hands. “Have you?”

  “A few over the years. It’s weird the affinity you have with someone of you own kind, isn’t it?”

  He is spot on. I do feel drawn to him. Someone who knows what it’s like to be me. Why of all people did it have to be this guy?

  Adam stirs in his seat and it’s hard not to jump to my fe
et and go over to him.

  Jude’s attention follows my own and his eye brows rise. “You could do worse than our Adam,” he says. “I just don’t want you to be disappointed once he remembers who he is.”

  “That’s not possible,” I snap. It isn’t so much what he has said, but the way he had said ‘our Adam’ that grates on me.

  Jude smiles. “We’ll see,” he says, getting to his feet. “You’ve probably already realised that I’m not a good person for you to get involved with, Teddie. But if you do ever need anything, come find me.” He whispers the last bit, eyeing the other E.N.C members over his shoulder.

  A noise from the front of the cabin surprises us both. Maggie lurches forward, letting out a guttural cry. The kind of cry you have when you know the person you love has been murdered. The young guy sat beside her catches her before she slips to the floor.

  “Go to her,” Jude says to me.

  Jumping from my seat, I rush over, wrapping her in my arms. She falls into me, fully sliding off the chair and knocking me back into the aisle.

  “Is he dead? He is, isn’t he?” she wails. “Tell me he isn’t dead, Teddie.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I reply. I cry with her for both Boyd and Norah.

  Jude takes me under the arm, gently hoisting me to my feet. He orders the guy, Seth, out of his chair, and helps me lift Maggie into her seat. I’m helpless to ease her pain, all I can do is rock her and stroke her hair. She holds me like she did when the van was careering towards us.

  I watch Jude head to the front and disappear into the cock pit. He confuses me. Murderer and compassionate kidnapper don’t match up. I have a wary curiosity as far as he goes.

  At the very front of the plane Isaac stares back at me with red, puffy eyes that I can only describe as empty. “I’m sorry,” he mouths.

  “You couldn’t have known,” I say to him.

  Isaac nods, but turns away. The shell of a man seems to have returned.

  The cabin pressure changes and we start to descend. Lights of civilisation spread out like a firework on the ground below us. The seatbelt lights flash on, but I don’t act on it. I find it ironic. Dying on landing seems to be the least of our worries.

  Jude comes back into the cabin and hands Ty a pile of black rags. “The location needs to be protected until Gabe is satisfied,” he says.

  Ty hands a bag to Seth who carefully puts it over Golding’s head, his hands trembling as they skim Golding’s sleeping face. Ty heads from one seat to another. He puts one on Yana and another on Haydn. They’re both still sedated.

  Bypassing Adam, Ty moves over to us. Adam doesn’t need one because he is one of them. What is his ability? Do I even want to know? Yvette and Roscoe must have tried to turn him into an EVO-TORO too. I push the thought away and focus on Ty.

  “Shame to cover that pretty face,” he says as blackness engulfs me.

  I have no energy to resist and what would it achieve? Maggie doesn’t fight either. We’ve all had enough.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

  The plane hits the runway and cruises to a stop. Ty takes me under the arm, but I don’t release my hold on Maggie’s hand. I keep a firm grip on her as we move along the plane. If I look down I can see my feet under the bag. Gingerly, I take one step at a time until I’m on firm ground.

  The air is humid and thunder rumbles overhead. Ty jogs along the tarmac, pulling me along with Maggie and Seth right on our heels. Cars screech to a stop in front of us, and the sounds of sobbing and the ruffle of the bag over my head puts knots my stomach.

  I bang into the back of someone. I see their shoes- black boots- I know it is Adam. He must be awake now. His back is hot, and I fumble along the ruffles in his shirt until I find his hand hanging beside his thigh. He grips my hand tightly, pulling me forward, so I’m pressed against him. I rest my forehead in between his shoulder blades, and he brings my hand up to his chest. Embracing him from behind allows me to feel his heart pound in his chest and I know in my heart that he isn’t a bad person.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” shouts Ty.

  I’m torn away from Adam, and cry out as Ty grasps by bad arm. I can hear Adam fighting against the guy who is escorting him. Ty lets go of me to join in. Adam lets out a groan as the air is knocked out of him. I scream his name.

  “Adam, oh Adam,” Ty shrieks like a pantomime dame.

  Sniggers erupt around me. Ty picks me up again. I squirm in his arms, and he laughs at my futile attempt of escape.

  “Get your hands off her,” Adam shouts, and then there is a thud and he groans in pain again. His voice is sluggish, still fighting the sedation.

  “Teddie, where are you,” sobs Maggie.

  Ty throws me into the back seat of a car, climbing in after me. Maggie is shoved in beside him, and the door slammed shut. Someone climbs in the passenger side, and we speed off.

  “So, you and Lovick, eh?” asks Ty, sounding disgruntled.

  “Yes, me and Lovick, so I suggest you keep your hands to yourself,” I hiss, knocking his hand from my thigh.

  “What Adam doesn’t know won’t kill him,” he jokes, moving his hand up to my crotch.

  I rip his hand away and tear the bag from my head. He is smirking at me. I slap his face as hard as I can in such a cramped space.

  “Feisty, I like it,” he says, gripping my chin between his thumb and fore finger.

  He presses his lips to mine and I could gag on the taste of old tobacco. His fingers dig my chin and his free arm forces me back against the seat. I can’t get free. He parts my lips with his tongue and forces it into my mouth. All I can do is bite down. He springs away from me, yelping in pain.

  “Leave her alone,” screams Maggie, clawing at him blindly.

  Seth is in the passenger seat. He turns, grabbing Ty’s wrist before he can slam it into my face. “I...I ..don’t think you w-w-want to explain that t..to Adam later,” he says, stammering. He is half of Ty’s size and shrinks from his glare. His pale face flushing red.

  “Get your queer hands off of me,” Ty snaps, shaking Seth loose. “I ain’t afraid of Lovick. It’s bloody hilarious actually, he doesn’t even remember that he’s EVO.”

  He touches a finger to his lip and it comes away bloody. I stare straight ahead, trying not to draw his attention to me anymore. Ty grabs the bag and thrusts it back on my head, but not before I get a glimpse of the Italian road signs.

  The driver eventually slows to a stop, speaking to someone through the window. There is a moment of pause and a whirring, mechanised noise of an electric gate opening. This can’t be good.

  ***

  Ty drags me out of the car by my neck, pulls the bag off my head, and forces me in line with the others.

  Adam stands beside Yana, holding her hand. She looks like a rabbit in headlights. Haydn stands on her other side, but he can barely hold himself upright. Seth helps Isaac steady him. Maggie holds my hand in an iron grip. Her cries have been replaced with a stony expression of pure anger.

  Golding gets shoved in line with me and wraps an arm around my neck. “They killed Norah,” he sobs into my shoulder.

  Seth watches us with a concerned look. I’m getting the impression that Seth isn’t a keen player in the E.N.C. He is barely more than a teenager himself and has an innocent look to his eyes.

  “And Boyd,” I whisper.

  Yvette climbs out of a car, straightening her pencil skirt. Ty takes her arm whilst she slides her feet into a pair of heels. She has changed since the airstrip.

  “What the hell happened to you?” she asks him, eyeing his lip.

  “I bit him,” I state. I won’t give him the chance to make an excuse.

  Jude looks to me like I’ve started talking Mandarin.

  “He tried to stick his tongue down my throat, so I bit him.”

  Ty’s looks straight to Adam who has a face of thunder.

  Adam’s eyes meet mine. “Are you okay?” he mouths.

  Tears spring from my eyes. I’m not okay- I’m
as far from okay as can be- but I nod. He steps out of line to come to me.

  Jude shoves him back. “Stay where you are, Lovick,” he warns, then turns his attention back to Ty. “I’ll deal with you later. Get out of my sight.”

  Ty swallows hard and walks away with his tail between his legs. Adam glares at him as he passes, but Ty won’t look up from the floor. So much for ‘not being scared of Lovick’. The question of Adam’s ability weighs on me again.

  Yvette laughs with one of the E.N.C members; the sound is shrill and rings through my head.

  “Yvette,” I say. My voice is laced with so much hatred that I barely recognise it. “This won’t be forgotten. You will be getting yours. I’ll make sure of it.”

  For a moment, she looks scared. What is her memory manipulation compared to my telekinesis? She knows what I can do and I’m glad. You better squirm, you bitch.

  “Right guys, in you go,” says Jude, gesturing behind us.

  Turning around, we’re faced with an archway trailed in flowers. It is beautiful and that strikes me as odd. Either side are topiary bushes and hanging baskets. Where the hell are we? Jude leads the way and we follow.

  Once through the archway, a vast swimming pool lit with under water lights, ripples in the warm breeze. All around the pool are chalets with deck chairs and poolside showers outside each. A man in board shorts and a dark top is making his way around, leaving what looks like shower gels on the showers along with fresh towels. He glances in our direction, but the sight of seven emotional people having bags whipped from their heads doesn’t seem to affect him.

  Another rumble of thunder echoes in the sky and the purple clouds lights up with sheet lightning.

  We enter into the stark lighting of a foyer. It is detached from the other buildings, but still has an intimidating presence. It’s just as fancy as the outside and smells slightly of tanning oil. I feel like I should take my shoes off before walking in. No one stands behind reception. The logo on the front of the glass desk reads ‘Hotel Evolución’. What else would it be called?

  The E.N.C members bustle us up some stairs. It’s difficult with both Maggie and Golding gripping my hands for dear life. For a moment, I’m jealous of Yana. I want to be the one being looked after. Adam should be holding my hand. Then, I look at Yana’s shaking body and feel the weight of Maggie and Golding on my hands, and I know that I can be strong. I’m thankful that Adam is taking care of Yana. Haydn isn’t in any state to look after himself, let alone anyone else.