Remainder

by Stacy H. Pan

  “Is there a way we can tinker with this so that it will open?” I ask Alec as I inspect the security mechanisms in place being careful not to touch anything.

  “It is probably rigged with an alarm to alert Killian of it being tampered with. Let’s look around and see if we can find anything in the other rooms.”

  “What are you doing here?” A familiar voice breaks my concentration and panic rises in my chest. I’m afraid to turn around. Afraid to face the owner of the voice. Maybe it was a figment of my imagination. Maybe I am so paranoid of being caught down here that I am hearing things. However, the question is repeated confirming that he is real and behind me. The voice of Killian rings in my ears. Slowly Alec and I turn around. I sigh with relief a little when I see it is Enforcer-150 and not Killian standing there asking us why we are here. Although I am relieved, I am still on guard. Up until this moment, I have not been able to figure out Enforcer-150. Is he an ally or an enemy? Something in my gut tells me that I can trust him. I guess I am about to discover the answer to my own question.

  “We are trying to get into Killian’s lab,” I respond matter-of-factly. Alec looks at me in disbelief. There is no point in trying to come up with an excuse as to why we are down here. I look into his bright green eyes, eyes like mine. I try to read his reaction to my admittance. He does not seem surprised or even angry. He walks towards us and I suck in my breath, afraid of what he is going to do or say. He stops a few inches away from me.

  “Well, let’s get you in there, shall we?” He scoots passed me and walks in front of the control panel.

  “Wait. Why are you helping us?” Alec demands. “How do we know you are not going to trigger the alarm or tell Killian?” Enforcer-150 does not face Alec and continues working on the control panel as he speaks.

  “You do not trust many people, Enforcer,” 150 says as he enters a code into a key pad I had not noticed was there. “That is good. Trusting the wrong people will get you killed.” He places his hand on a scanner and his eye up to the hole of the eye scanner.

  “Let’s just say we share the same interests and leave it at that.” The scan finishes and a computerized voice chimes the words “access granted,” causing the door to open.

  “Thank you,” I exclaim to Enforcer-150. I am so happy and relieved that I could hug him. However, I do not dare since I am not sure how he would react.

  “Just be quick. Hit the red button on the keypad to close the door when you are finished. Try not to move anything out of its place. Killian is very observant.” With that last piece of advice, he turns and saunters back up the hallway. I watch until he disappears from my sight, then turn around and enter the lab.

  Upon entering, I notice a computer station to my left. The computer buzzes, a sign that it has been left on. In front of me, is a long metal table adorned with a microscope, slides, and Petri dishes. Another long table is to my right and decorated with glass tubes and beakers. There is a dry erase board with mathematical equations that I do not recognize. The strangest contraption I see is a long piece of wood with leather straps hanging from it. I get closer and notice there are red spots on the wood. Blood? Upon further inspection I see that the height of the wood can be adjusted. What could he possibly use this for? I look down on the floor and see more red spots that create a trail. I follow it and find what looks like a door on the floor. I reach down to pull the handle, but decide against it. We should check everything out in here first. I see a line of cabinets against the wall to the left side of the table with the microscope. I open a cabinet and see it is stocked with needles of all different sizes. Another cabinet houses a ton of liquid drugs and medical supplies. Everything I have seen so far is normal for a laboratory. I see nothing peculiar, nothing that gives away Killian’s agenda. Alec is at Killian’s computer so I join him.

  “Find anything?” he asks, his eyes fixated on the screen.

  “I think I found a door on the floor. There’s a trail of what I think is blood that leads to it. Have you found anything?”

  “There’s a file in here that is password protected. I am not that great with computers, so I am not sure how to bypass it.” Alec opens another folder and something catches my eye.

  “What is that?” I ask pointing to the folder labeled “Household.” Alec clicks on it and several sub folders pop up, all labeled with the names of the people who live and work in Killian’s house. I see a folder labeled “Enforcer-656.” I touch the folder on the screen and it opens. Hundreds of videos, photos, and documents pop up. I touch a video on the screen. The video begins to play. A little blond girl sits at a table in a small room reading. A woman sits beside her helping her with the pronunciation of the words. I cannot see the woman’s face, but her voice sounds familiar. I click on another video. The same little girl is playing with other children, again in the small room. I click on a picture. A familiar little girl is smiling and being hugged by the woman in the video. The little girl looks just like the woman except the woman has blue eyes instead of green. I stare in disbelief in the eyes of the little girl in the picture. The little girl is me. My mind becomes fuzzy as it is invaded by confusion. Who is this woman with me? Why have I dreamt about her when I have no memory of her?

  “Remy, are you okay?” Alec asks as he places his hand on my shoulder.

  “I know this woman. I have dreamt of her. But I don’t remember this. I don’t remember her or any of this.” My thoughts are interrupted by footsteps.

  “Shit. Someone’s coming. We have to leave now,” Alec says. I close out all the files on the computer. Alec goes over to the entrance of the lab and punches the red button on the key pad closing the door.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “The footsteps are too close. Come on.” He leads me to the door on the floor and opens it. A staircase is in front of us leading down. I quickly go down the stairs into the darkness and Alec follows behind, closing the door.

  “What are we going to do?” I whisper. “Where are we?”

  “It looks like we are in the tunnels.” I hear Alec fumbling for something and all of a sudden his aleuron sheds light. “At least this thing is good for something.”

  “How did you know that the door lead to tunnels,” I ask.

  “I didn’t. I guessed. I knew that tunnels ran under the house. I had forgotten about them because they are never used.”

  “What is the purpose of the tunnels?”

  “Servants used to use them to get into different parts of the house so they could not be seen by guests.” Alec extends his hand to me.

  “Come on, we need to find a way out of here.” I take Alec’s hand and we start walking. I am grateful that Alec is here. If it wasn’t for him and his knowledge of the set-up of the house, I would probably be caught right now. We pass by old wooden doors that I assume lead to other parts of the house. I have never noticed other entrances in the rooms I have been in. However, if these were used by servants, then the other doors are probably hidden as well. It does not surprise me that a house this big would have some hidden passageways. We follow the path in front of us, guided by the light put out by Alec’s aleuron. Something reflecting off the light catches my eye.

  “Alec, look!” I extend my finger and point in the direction of the reflection. We walk towards it and come face to face with a metal door. The door looks brand new, especially when compared to all the worn wooden ones. If the tunnels are never used, what would be the need in putting a brand new door down here? Alec finds the latch and lifts it up. The sound of the door unlocking resonates.

  “Stay behind me,” Alec demands. He takes my hand and leads us inside the room. It is extremely dark and the light from the aleuron is not enough to dispel the blackness. I feel the wall behind me and find a switch. I flip it on and light illuminates the room. I gasp at the sight before me.

  Chapter Twenty

  The room we are standing in is huge. It goes farther back than I can see. Standing in the room in straight lines as if in a milita
ry formation are people. Only they do not look like any kind of people I have seen. They are huge, at least seven feet tall and muscular. They have yellow-grey skin. Their mouths hang open, like they are silently screaming, showing off sharp yellow teeth that look more animal than human. They are all naked, but lack the features to determine their sex. The strangest part about this supposed army is they all look like Killian. The strange-looking creatures stand perfectly still with their eyes closed. It’s almost like they are sleeping.

  “What the….” Alec trails off, unable to finish his sentence, probably due to the shock of what stands before us. I am speechless as well. I come out from behind Alec and walk further into the room. For as far as I can see, this creatures are everywhere, taking up every part of this huge room. There must be hundreds of them.

  “What are they?” I manage to ponder out loud.

  “They look like mutant Killians.”

  “Are they clones?” I ask.

  “I’ve never seen clones look like that.”

  “How else would they have Killian’s features if they are not clones?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Why would he have these? What would be the purpose?”

  “The question is how,” Alec responds. “How could he generate an army of this size? He couldn’t have done it by himself.” A realization hits me. I remember the hysterical girl with long silky black hair and almond eyes at the Research Center. She spoke of mutants. If this is what she saw, I understand the fear in her eyes.

  “He didn’t. He had help. Someone at the Research Center is helping him.” I briefly recap the story of the frightened girl to Alec.

  “You are probably right,” I hear Alec say as I stare up at the face of one of the mutant Killian clones. Just then, its eyes open, showing red eyes and black where there should be white. I jump back and into Alec. The clone makes no attempt to move and its eyes do not follow my movements.

  “We should go,” Alec says as he starts walking backwards, pulling me with him. We exit and Alec locks the door behind us.

  After about another hour of walking, we finally find a way out of the tunnels and I find myself back safely in my bed. My clock tells me it is five in the morning. I close my eyes and will sleep to find me. It takes a long time before I can fall asleep and when I do sleep, I have nightmares of mutant clones with red eyes chasing me.

  I wake the later that morning drenched in sweat. My nightmares had been unforgiving during the little bit of sleep I did manage to get. I am definitely in need of a shower. I head down to the kitchen to get something to eat. While sitting at the table listening to Zareh talk about all the work she has to do today, a hologram appears. It is Killian and he is requesting that everyone in the house come to the study. Knowing Killian, it is not a request, but an order. Everyone gets up from the table and heads to the study. When our group enters, the room is already full of pure bloods and clones. To my surprise, Bailey is also present and is not complaining about having to stop whatever “important” thing she was doing to come in here. Alec stands against the wall on the other side of the room. I long to go to him and to stand beside him, however, I know that I cannot. So, I stand in between Zareh and Milo on the opposite side of the room. Killian enters the room along with Enforcer-150 and everyone falls silent. We all watch as he makes his way to the front of the room.

  “Thank you all for coming in such a timely manner,” he begins. “There is a special broadcast that is going on air right now that I wish to show you. After it concludes, you may all get back to your duties.” Killian steps aside and a hologram appears. It is of Killian sitting at his desk in his office.

  “Good morning, citizens of Avalon. I am your humble leader, Killian Buchanan. Lately it has been brought to my attention that there has been a rise in clone sympathizers. These pure bloods threaten the very principles our great city was built upon. They wish to destroy our way of life and they will no longer be tolerated. All suspected clone sympathizers will be arrested and questioned. If you are found guilty, the punishment is death.” The Killian hologram disappears and is replaced by a hologram of a frightened girl, the same girl from the Research Center who held tightly to Alden. Her pretty face is twisted with fear and then I realize where I have seen her. The fearful young woman in front of us is the girl from the cleaners who cleaned Bailey’s dresses. She is chained in some unrecognizable contraption. She cries and begs to be released while pulling on her restraints. It is no use; she cannot break free. The contraption lights up like it is about to do something. My mind goes back to the Bleeding and the Reddix. I wonder if the container she is in is similar. I watch and wait for the snake-like tubes to come out and drain her of all her blood. However, they do not appear. Instead, the girl cries out in pain. I want to close my eyes to shield myself from seeing the torment that I know she is going to face. I am glued to the hologram, waiting to see what happens. The young girl cries out again in pain and I still see nothing. People around me begin to gasp as we watch parts of the girl evaporate into molecules. A hand, an ear, her hair, her foot, an arm, a leg. On and on, piece by piece until there is nothing left but a pile of clothes. We all stare in disbelief in the direction of the hologram until it is gone. My mind races and I cannot wrap my head around what I just saw. A girl literally evaporated before my eyes. I glance over at Alec. I see the tightness in his jaw and his clenched fists. He is not scared or shocked; he is angry. Killian takes his place at the front of the room again.

  “I hope this demonstration proves to each and every one of you that clone sympathizers will not be tolerated. Imagine my surprise when I discovered a clone sympathizer in my very household.”

  People begin to look at each other. My eyes are frozen on Killian. I do not want to look at Alec, Milo, or Zareh for fear I will give them away. Killian walks around the room looking each person in the eye with his icy green ones, challenging and asserting his authority over them. He stops in front of Alec and they stare at each other, both silent. My heart pounds hard and loud in my chest, like it is trying to break free of my rib cage.

  “Alec.” Killian speaks in a sharp tone. I want to scream and I feel that I may. If Alec is arrested, I am sure I will lose my cool.

  “Would you be so kind to escort Zareh to the dungeon.” All eyes fall on Zareh.

  “I’m very disappointed in you and my father would be too if he was still alive. Arrest her.”

  Reluctantly, Alec comes up beside Zareh and places a hand on her arm. Silently, he coaxes her to go with him.

  “No,” Zareh yells. She thrashes against Alec and Orlando appears to help him. Tears well up in my eyes and flow down my cheeks.

  “I am not a clone sympathizer. I am devoted to you, Killian. I am devoted to you,” Zareh yells as Alec and Orlando haul her out of the room. I forget myself and lunge towards her.

  “No. Let her go,” I scream. I feel arms around my waist pulling me back, but I still fight. Killian stands watching me, amusement on his face.

  “There’s nothing you can do. Calm down,” Milo speaks softly in my ear as he restrains me firmly. Killian stares at me, his amused face melting into a serious expression.

  “Let this be a lesson to you all,” he warns and exits the room. I cannot help but think that warning was directed towards me. Milo loosens his grip and I break free. I run out of the study and back to my room. I slam the door behind me. With my back against the door, the tears flow freely as I sob. I sink down to the floor and bury my head in my arms that hug my knees. I do not know how long I sit there and cry. I cry until my eyes dry up. No one has come looking for me, not even Alec. I am glad. I do not want to see anyone and I do not want suspicion against Alec or Milo raised. They are better off staying away from me. In fact, they should not associate with me anymore, not even in secret. It is too dangerous for them. Even though Alec warned me of the danger we face being together, it was not until now that I realize just how dangerous this is for him. I will not have the same fate befall him. He will not
lose his life because of me. I have to let him go. The thought breaks my heart. If it wasn’t for the fact that I have no more tears left, I would start crying again. I sink even further down onto the cold, hard, wooden floor until I am laying in a fetal position. At this moment, I just want to lay here as my world comes tumbling down around me.

  I wake unsure of the time and how long I have slept. In light of today’s events, I do not know how I have slept at all. I guess emotional exhaustion got the best of me. I rise from the floor and look at the clock and see it is nine at night. I have slept all day. I realize that I have not eaten since breakfast; however, the thought of food makes me feel sick. I have to meet Rhydia and the rest of the Resistance at midnight. I wonder if I should even go given what happened today. What if Killian is watching all of us somehow? On the other hand, I think I should go tonight. Rhydia and the others need to know about the clone army Killian has created, what they are up against. I just hope Milo and Alec choose to lay low tonight. It is not safe for them to be going to secret meetings of the Resistance. My thoughts turn to Zareh. I wonder what is being done to her right now, if they are torturing her somehow. Or maybe they will just kill her and be done with her. Thinking of her makes me incredibly sad and tears threaten to cloud my eyes. More than sad, I am angry. Angry at Killian for taking away one of my friends, for threatening me, for everything he has done to clones and condoned. Even more, I am angry at myself for allowing myself to get close to pure bloods. I am angry at the fact there is nothing I can do to help Zareh or anyone else for that matter. I am utterly and hopelessly powerless. I can’t help but feel that this is all my fault.