by J. L. Beck
“No, my biggest weakness is not protecting her now. Not being there for her when she needs me most.” I knew it was true, even if I didn’t want to admit it to myself. I was terrified of something that could possibly happen, and I wasn’t even doing anything to protect myself or from stopping it.
“I would have to agree. Her leaving the Brotherhood with Ty and the military members without you wasn’t really a good way of protecting her. I personally don’t think she’s ready to be out there, I’ve seen her training and it’s good but not good enough against…”
“She left the Brotherhood? Why?” I interrupted him, clearly not having heard him the first time he spoke as I shot up from my cot like a fire had been lit under my ass. I stopped in front of Xaiver, staring at him, waiting for him to speak, my hands gripping the metal bars tightly. I had never wanted out, to be free to do as I pleased more in my life than I did right now.
“Ty and her recruited a bunch of members to go out and get Roger and her father. They planned to bring both of them back here, along with the files on what she was.” Xaiver rolled his eyes.
“She left…” I growled, kicking at the bar with my foot. “She fucking left, knowing the risk. She went out into the world, without my protection… without me.” I snarled, on the verge of exploding.
“They should be back soon. Don’t worry, Ty will keep her safe.” I couldn’t believe the way Xaiver was acting. He didn’t seem to care, then again he understood nothing that I had previously said so he wouldn’t get the anger that was on the threshold of escaping me.
“Let me out,” I demanded with a rough tone. I needed to make sure she was okay. I needed to see it for myself. I needed to be the person next to her right now. I had to protect her. Otherwise, she wasn’t safe, not in my eyes.
“You think I’m dumb.” He laughed as if I had said the craziest thing he’d heard all day. I narrowed my eyes, wondering just how fucking crazy he was for having not released me the moment I ordered it.
“Actually, yes. I also think if you don’t open up this cell right fucking now, the second I get out of here I will rip your throat out and watch the blood drip out till there’s a puddle surrounding you.” I had no intention of killing any more people, but if I had to, if I needed to in order to get to Maggie I would. I felt it deep inside of me, like a raging storm growing stronger the longer it spiraled around and around. Maggie needed me, and nothing would hinder me from getting to her.
“No can do my friend. You’re considered dangerous and until Ty gets back you won’t be going anywhere because guess what?” He leaned into the bars, and without thought I reached out to grab him, my fingers grazing his skin. “You’re unstable to everyone around you. For example, look at what you just tried to do.”
He had no idea the mayhem I was capable of. I could bring this entire facility to the ground. They didn’t just call me Killer because it was simply a name given unto me. They called me Killer because that’s who I was; a heartless, cold, calculated killer.
“Don’t test me, I’ll snap your neck. You’ll be dead before you even realized you’ve taken your last breath.” I snarled.
“Your threats are never ending… I’m seriously wondering how many of them can truly be believable.” The asshole was giving me the runaround, and it did nothing to calm my already unhinged emotions. If I didn’t want to truly kill him before, I fucking did now.
“Maggie is out there alone and in the hands of the enemy,” I whispered harshly, trying to keep the animal inside of me at bay for a little while longer.
“You should’ve thought about that before you decided to go psycho on everyone here and become a risk to the rest of the group.” He pointed out, a smug look on his face. I wanted to wipe the floor with that smug look. I wanted to do a lot of shit, but here I was stuck behind metal bars, pacing a cell that I would remain in until I got myself under control.
“If anything happens to her, if she dies or if she’s even hurt in the slightest way it will fall on your shoulders,” I warned. He stared me straight in the eyes and said the words I knew were more than true all because I had thought of them myself more than once.
“No, if anything happens to her Killer… It’s on your shoulders.”
Sixteen
Maggie
A humming sounded in my ears as bright lights shined overhead. I slowly blinked my eyes open, the brightness of the light burning my eyes. I tried to move my arms and legs, but couldn’t get the muscles to work to move them. I was sitting up in a chair, that much I could tell. As my eyes began to adjust to the lighting everything that had happened came flooding back to me.
The look in Ty’s eyes after he shot me with that tranquilizer, the words he spoke as if he was sorry for doing so. None of it made any sense, still, I should have known, or at least sensed it. I clenched my fists in pure anger, anger at myself for trusting him.
“You’re one bad bitch.” I large burly man stepped into the light. I had to tilt my head up to look at him. His eyes were dark and his hair was cut close to the skin of his head. I could tell he was older and had seen much better days, the wrinkles on his face giving way to that. My gaze swept over the clothes he was wearing, all I could think as I stared at him was that they said he had money. And when he stepped closer to me, I could smell smoke mixed with whiskey on him. It was a dark scent. I had no idea who he was or what it was that he was going to do or say, but the feeling he caused in me alerted me to just how dangerous he could be to me.
“Where am I?” My voice was hoarse and raw like I had swallowed a bunch of gravel. I squinted into the bright light and then down at my hands and feet. There was a metal like rope wrapped around them. I flexed my hands and legs in an attempt to snap the rope, but it didn’t even budge.
“You’re still here at PGI. I’ve taken it upon myself to properly introduce myself.” I could feel his eyes searing my soul. It was as if he had the power to read a lie before it was ever spoken. Nausea hit me right in the stomach, the acid building up in the back of my throat.
“What have you done to me? Why am I tied up, and where is Ty?” The questions just kept coming, but the answers were met with nothing but silence.
“One at a time, chosen one. I have some backstory to give you before we talk about your bastard of a brother. See, when this company started over twenty-five years ago, we were nothing but a pharmaceutical company headed nowhere. I knew that when I founded the place, I also knew that I needed to go down a much different road to be able to provide for my family.”
I blinked, my stomach flipped, and my heart sank into my chest. This was Roger’s father. It had to be because Roger was the CEO of the company in which meant his father had started the company and owned it. In the years I knew Roger, I had never met his father. Until now. The truth could be heard in his words, and it caused my stomach to quake, and a sheen of sweat to form all over my body. Fear, and anger like I had never felt before enveloped me.
“Stop, I don’t care about your back story and I’m not the chosen one whatever that is. I’m nothing.” I spat at him, fighting against the ropes once again. I just wanted to be free. I just needed to get away.
He laughed gruffly, “You’re the chosen one because I hand selected you. You little Maggie…” He stepped closer to me, one of his hands reaching out to touch the side of my face. I turned away from him, my entire body telling me just how bad of a person he truly was.
“You were my first experiment with L1. Your mother paid a high price for your life.” He confessed. The thought of what my mother had sacrificed to save me caused the vomit to release from my throat.
“I don’t care,” I said spitting on the floor, my stomach cramping with every breath I took. I bent as far as I could, the sound of my vomit hitting the floor beneath me should’ve been enough for the vile man in front of me to understand I didn’t want to hear anything else, but it didn’t.
“But you do care…” He gripped my chin forcing me to stare into his evil eyes. I had been
grateful from day one that I had survived to see the next day but after everything could I truly say it was worth it? “You care because it’s your mother and you’re still very much human, Maggie. You’re a special breed.” I pulled my head back, trying to get him to release me which just caused him to grip me harder.
“Leave my mother out of this, anything she ever did for you should be considered an honor on your behalf.” I bared my teeth. If I got the chance to end this man I would.
“Feisty much?” The man spoke over his shoulder as if there was someone else in the room with us.
“If you don’t release me, I will fuck your whole world up.” I couldn’t just sit here like the victim I used to be. I wasn’t the victim and I would never be again.
“No, I don’t think you will. See, this was all a ploy to get you here. I need you, and I have something that you want.” I could hear the sound of a door opening in front of me, light shined in through the opening, and then my father’s face appeared. His body was scrawny, and his eyes had lost all their shine. I wanted to go to him, to wrap my arms around his feeble body and feel his heart beat beneath my palm just to make sure this wasn’t some sick dream.
“Dad...?” There was a question to my word, I didn’t know what they had done to him here, and if they did half the things Killer spoke of then I didn’t think I could handle to stand in the same room as him. My family had made so many sacrifices for me, I wouldn’t be able to face the cold, hard truth that he was what they had created because of me.
“Maggie.” His voice was weak, but he still managed to smile at me and my body warmed all over, emotions overwhelming me as tears sprang from my eyes.
“Are you okay? ” Breath rushed from my lungs as I asked the question I had been wanting to ask since I had been forced to leave him here months ago.
He lifted his hand as if to say quietly. Concern formed on my face, what was he trying to say.
“He’s fine Maggie. He’s alive and as well as anyone. Still working for us as you can see.” The other man now spoke gesturing to my father’s white lab coat.
“Let him go, let him leave and I’ll do whatever you need of me.” I couldn’t believe I had said the words out loud. I should’ve known that coming here would lead to this. I would do anything I could to release my father from this prison, even give myself up to the company that seemed to rip my life apart every chance they got.
The man across from me laughed as if I had just answered all their prayers with one simple demand. “I’m serious, let him go.” I spoke again, my voice almost a plea.
“I was hoping you would say something like that. See I have a deal to make with you. I need you and even if you don’t want to admit it you need me.” He bargained with me as if he actually thought I needed him.
“I don’t need you.” I wanted to scream, but spoke softly, almost weakly. I felt like a coward, giving into the one thing I should be running from.
“You do. Killer loves you. You love Killer. You love your father and your father loves you. I bet you can imagine the pain it would cause you to lose those people.” He threatened. He had no idea how many times I had truly thought those very things.
“Just tell me already. I’ve already told you I would help you, what more do you want?” I questioned. I watched him pull a key card from the front pocket of his suit. He hovered it above my ankles and then wrists, the metal ropes undoing in an instant. Relief flooded me, to be free, at least in the sense that I could move my arm and legs now.
“Since we’re under agreement I assume you won’t be a problem at all. If you’re wondering what Ty has to do with this, I made a promise to him as well.” As the man spoke, I watched Ty step out of the corner that was covered in darkness. The look of guiltiness and hurt in his eyes said it all.
He was sorry, and I almost wanted to forgive him. Almost.
“How could you?” I growled, shooting up from the chair. I wasn’t even aware that I had gotten up until I was standing directly in front of him, my chest pressed firmly against his.
“Don’t be mad, chosen one. He was simply doing what he needed to.” I could feel the tension in the air, and Ty’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. Confusion set into my features. I didn’t understand how he could turn on me so easily. Wasn’t he aware of everything that took place here? The evil things that they did?
“Mad? He shot me with a fucking dart.” I turned on the man, really taking him in this time. He was large, almost like a linebacker, I could see the wrinkles that marred his skin and the bags underneath his eyes. More than anything he looked like an old man, that was tired of trying.
“For the same reason, you’re here. To save someone he loves. That’s the thing about all this, we are all sacrificing for someone we love.” I was frustrated, I didn’t want to keep doing this talk in circles bullshit. I wanted answers.
“Where is my mother, what have you done with her?!” I commanded, ordering him to answer me. He looked at me smugly as if he didn’t have to tell me anything.
“Your mother sacrificed her life a long time ago to save yours. She conceived you with your father, but when it came time to pay for the treatment you were receiving from my company she had no money. She couldn’t let you die so she volunteered to be a test subject in a study of L1 used in pregnancy. She had an affair with another man and ended up pregnant.” He pointed to Ty, explaining how he came about. I shook my head, my body wanting to give out on me as everything started to come together.
In my mind the puzzle was coming together, the pieces hiding behind memories that I hadn’t ever realized I had.
I saw two children swinging on a swing in the back yard, one was I and the other was a little boy that looked like a younger version of Ty. We were giggling and playing without a care in the world.
“See? It’s all coming back to you now, isn’t it?” The man spoke softly to me, watching the tears fall from my eyes and down my cheeks.
“I don’t understand what this has to do with now, I don’t understand any of it.” Confusion set in as more memories hit me left and right.
They were giving me shots. There was always shots and medicine that had to be administered. I was too sick to tell them that I hated it, and sometimes I just wished I could die so the pain would go away.
“Eventually, everything will come back. You’ve been conditioned since you were first given L1 to forget the most important memories. We didn’t think you could handle knowing what you really were, so we trained you. When it worked with you, we started doing it on everyone.”
“Who are you?” I asked without warning. I had to know the name of the man that had cursed me with this life.
“Call me Jack.” He smirked. He had no idea the pain and hell he had caused in my life, in the thousands of others, and here he was smiling and acting like he did nothing. I clenched my fist tightly to my side. I wanted to act on the violence that was just on the brink of bubbling over.
“You’ve killed people, ripped them from their lives. You have fucked with fate…” I snarled. “You could’ve let us all die. You should have let us all die!!” I screamed, anger surging through me.
“You will understand why all of this took place someday and when you do, you will thank me for saving your life and saving Killer’s life. I did you a favor and now you’re indebted to me until that favor is paid off.”
I pushed myself into his chest until I was level with him. “I owe you nothing because I didn’t ask for this life. He didn’t ask for this life.” I pointed to Ty, who was still standing there idly waiting to escape. He wanted out just as much as I did. I could tell this now, I could see it and feel it, the want inside of me as if it were my own desires.
Jack leaned down into my face, his breath fanning against my cheeks. “You didn’t ask me for anything, your mother did and because she’s no longer alive you have to pay the debt.” I couldn’t help myself, I lifted my fist without hesitation, striking the asshole right across the face. He staggered back on his f
eet, taken back by the hit.
“You really shouldn’t have done that…” He spoke, wiping at a smear of blood against his lip. It was too late for me to respond to his retort, a lightning bolt as bright as the sun and as hot as fire struck me straight in the back, radiating through my body as it knocked me onto the floor. I fell to my knees, my face still staring up at the man who had ripped life away from me.
One thought lingering throughout my mind: we were nothing but a number. A cure.
My veins bulged throughout my body as I felt the tiny electric shocks flowing through me still. I took in the vacant look upon his face and wondered just how far he would go.
He was our creator and I knew he had the power to be our destroyer as well.
Seventeen
Killer
There was something between Maggie and me, an invisible rope that tied us to one another. We were tethered together. Her pain was mine, as mine was hers. Everything she felt I could feel too. I gazed down at my body, looking at the way my extremities shook as if I was being shocked. My flesh burned and pain seared through my head.
“What’s a matter?” Xavier stood up, asking as if he had been concerned this whole fucking time with what was wrong with me.
“Even if I knew I’m positive I wouldn’t tell you.” I groaned, unable to ignore the pain I was feeling. Fire filled my veins and radiated throughout my body. I knew Maggie was in pain, and that just added to my rage. How I was locked in this cage, and she was in danger and on the edge of death.
“Yeah, I don’t know why I asked anyway…” Sarcasm laced his words and my rage began to bubble faster.
I needed to find a way out of here and to Maggie.
“Did you say Maggie left? She wasn’t here anymore?” I could remember somewhere in my mind hearing that she had left the Brotherhood with Ty but my thoughts were so muddled. Everything seemed to be coming in and out, like the static on a tv channel.