Advancing ((Advance Industries #2))

by K A Duggsy

  Are they better off staying at Advance Industries?

  I never thought I’d believe that but at least there they can dream about the outside but never have the reality of it shatter them. The pain they endure in there is nothing compared to self-inflicted pain out here. I never knew pain had so many levels, it was just a word like happy or sad, but all those words have different levels. When you reach the highest one, there’s nothing left, just a void, a huge empty chasm. I’m not living, I’m existing and that’s no different to what I did at Advance Industries. My heart doesn’t beat anymore, it whispers, it’s barely discernible. My head either over thinks at an alarming speed or it’s shut off, registering my surroundings on an unconscious level. Who can function this way?

  I start walking to the hilly part, my head down letting myself work out my plan. I look up and see Trask heading my way. I smile but I could do without him right now.

  “I knew you’d be here,” he says as he jogs over to me and takes up the same pace beside me.

  “Becoming a creature of habit, I guess.”

  We walk along in silence until we’re over the mound but instead of heading to the bungalow I veer off in the other direction. He follows not asking for a while but then his curiosity takes over.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I’ve got something I need to do,” I reply.

  “Sounds interesting. You gonna tell me what?”

  I stop moving and turn to look at him. His body language is open, his black hair tied back in a barely-there ponytail and his green eyes seeking out mine, desperate to know, to help me. He runs a hand through his bushy black beard.

  “I can’t Trask. I want to... but I can’t.”

  “Oookay! So you’re up to something?”

  “Stop fishing. I can’t tell you.”

  “Can’t or won’t?”

  “Won’t. You won’t like it and you’ll try to stop me. I need to do it, though, Trask.”

  I start walking again but he remains in place. I make it a few feet ahead before he charges towards me. He grabs my elbow and spins me around. He stoops slightly to get eye level with me and his eyes are full of unshed tears.

  “Faith, talk to me. I mean it girl. If you’re planning anything...stupid, talk it out with me. We... I can’t lose you!”

  My eyes fill with tears too. I’ve never seen him worried, he has a hard facade which I broke through a long time ago. I recognised his own darkness and that’s how our friendship was forged. We get each other without having to give validation. He looks crazy wild with panic and I click. He thinks I’m going to... kill myself?

  I wrap my arms around his waist and he stiffens before relaxing into it and bringing his huge hands around mine. He’s hard and firm and I close my eyes and just enjoy being held, enjoy this small bit of affection that I’ve been missing. He strokes my hair and it’s gentle considering the size of his hands. I feel like I’m hugging a brick wall. He doesn’t smell as intoxicating as Kye but his scent is still all man. He’s handsome but more rugged than Kye, he’s rough and ready looking but inside soft and squishy. Most of Kye’s team are good looking, they’re athletic and built, their varying personalities either drawing me to them or away from them. Trask has always been in a league of his own though. Always making time for me when I was a newbie and teaching me the ropes when Kye was busy. He’s been my constant. The one team member I truly connected with. I blink away my tears, pull away and without looking into his eyes again I start walking away. I can’t bring Trask down too, it’s bad enough I affected Kye.

  He’s followed me all the way to the town. He’s kept a good distance back but I know he’s there and I need to lose him. If he sees where I’m really going he’ll blow it for me.

  I’ve ducked in and out of shops, ambled along and still he stays close by. That’s when I decide screw it. I’m going whether he follows or not. I just need a distraction to buy myself some time. AIG are everywhere, I pick out two as my marks and make my way over to them. A pop-up stall selling scarves and purses is close by. Perfect.

  I storm over to it. “I’m sorry,” I tell the owner quietly before I pick up handfuls of items and start throwing them into the street, making sure to aim some in the direction of the AIG. The shop owner comes running over and frantically picks up what she can. So I start shouting, kicking out and swiping things with my arms off her display. I rip a silk scarf in half and let it fly into the air. I’m actually enjoying myself now, the rage that I’ve been containing has taken over and this is the most fun I’ve had for a while. It’s therapeutic. Just as I’m getting into it the AIG are on me. I smile again, now who’s predictable? As they start dragging me away by my arms I turn my head and pick out Trask in the crowd. I give him my megawatt smile. I know what I’m doing, don’t worry, it says. He glowers at me and speaks into his Comm. He looks fierce, wild and if I weren’t leaving I’d worry about the tongue lashing he’d be waiting to give me. He returns my look with one of his own, pinning me with an ‘I’m coming for you’ look.

  Come all you want; I’ll be gone by then.

  They check my Comm, usher me into a vehicle and my journey starts. The journey to my salvation I hope. I’m not nervous or apprehensive. I’m still numb, taking my life an hour at a time. I stare absentmindedly out of the window, staring at the beautiful city. The last time I’ll see it.

  All too soon we’ve stopped and I’m walking to a building one befitting the President. I’m taken inside and placed in a bright and cheerful room. High-ceilinged with a sparkling chandelier that makes the surfaces glisten from the crystals adorning it. Two sofa’s face each other and a massive fireplace stand behind them. The walls are a sky blue, the drapes are a silk white and skim the floor of the three windows they cover. A white wood bookcase encases the whole other end of the room. It’s dreamy, I think I could sleep peacefully in a room like this.

  The door opens behind me and I turn around. I instantly feel sick. I’m looking at Fraser, a much younger version of him anyway. I mean I know I’m not but the likeness is scarily accurate. He looks young, younger than I expected, probably in his twenties if his smooth face is anything to go by. I feel my blood drain away and start heaving. Not again! I look for somewhere to expel it and find what I hope is a bin, I lean over it and throw up.

  When I’ve finished, he’s holding out an embroidered handkerchief towards me. He Comms a servant to come and remove the offending bin. I wipe my face. “I’m sorry,” I mumble.

  “Please don’t be. I’ve never had a woman throw up just from the sight of me. It’s both amusing and concerning,” he says dryly.

  He gestures for me to take a seat on the sofa and he sits on the one opposite, his leg crossed over his other knee and arms splayed out on the back of the chair.

  “To what do I owe the pleasure Faith?” He asks.

  “Don’t look so surprised. It is I who should be so. Mr. Clark had no wish for us to meet but here you are anyway. I take it he does not know?”

  I nod meekly. “He will soon enough, though.”

  “Ahh right, so enough chit-chat and let’s get down to business?”

  I nod again and wring my hands in my lap. He’s so at ease, he speaks in that posh way Fraser did, that ‘I’m better than you’ voice but he’s both putting me at ease and unnerving me. His eyes have me transfixed because that is the only part of him he didn’t inherit from Fraser.

  “I... I need your help in order to travel back to my own time.”

  He purses his lips before running his finger over them, he sits forward clasping his hands between his legs. “Why would you want to do that? Do you not enjoy this city?”

  “I have my reasons.”

  He laughs. “But you will not divulge them to me?”

  I don’t break my gaze away from his but I don’t answer either. I haven’t the energy for games or questions, I just want to go.

  “I can see why he was so fascinated with you Faith. You’re very determined.”

 
; I raise my brows. “Kye?”

  “No Dear, my father.”

  “He spoke about me - to you?”

  “Every day. Again I’m surprised you don’t know this. Do you and Mr. Clarke not communicate with one another?”

  No not recently I think to myself. I just want this over. “Did he... Did he have any remorse?” I don’t know why I ask it but I thought Fraser was a friend at one time, a very fleeting time but nonetheless I feel like he was conflicted too. That Advance Industries made him into the monster he became. I saw good in him, tiny flecks of it at least.

  He thinks it over. “He was incapable of remorse. He thought only of himself and what he wanted. He hated the fact you slipped away. You became an obsession.”

  “Look I don’t want to be rude but I didn’t come here to make small talk. Will you help me or am I wasting my time?”

  “I need to know why. Advancing has become dangerous, I may look like my father but I do have morals and I won’t allow a lady to travel without an exceptionally good reason.”

  “I need to get back. He has my sisters. I need to change back whatever we wronged in the first place. I need to go without Kye knowing because he’ll stop me and I need to do it soon so either help me do it as safely as possible or I’ll go to the black market!” I stand up gesturing with my hands, glaring down at him. I’m desperate can’t he see that?

  He stands as well palms raised and grinning at my outburst. “Valid reasons.” He says, “Take a seat and I’ll prepare my team. When I return we will talk about the destination you need to return to.”

  I sag. That was actually very easy, too easy but I feel queasy again so take a seat and watch him walk gracefully from the room.

  Chapter 9

  Kye

  I’ve turned into a sullen sonofabitch. I know it, the team know it but I can’t shake it off. I’m being deliberately distant to Faith and even I can’t explain why. I guess I blame her on some level. What for I don’t know. My heart was torn out that night, firstly watching her lose it, then finding out... what I found out. I just can’t be around her without my strength. I’m meant to be the strong one. I haven’t faced half of what she’s faced and I’m embarrassed to let her see me like this. Why would she want me when I’m not the man she believes me to be? I know I’m hurting her and I hate myself for it. I’ve created a distance between us and I can’t find a way to bridge it so I’m being a typical bloke and spending all my time with the team or helping Jack at the labs. I avoid Faith as much as humanly possible and can see the pain that causes her. I’m just waiting to sort my feelings out in my head before I can give her the me, she deserves. I can feel her pulling away from me, no truth be told I’m pushing her away. This is so unlike us. We always talk through any issues instead of letting them fester. We’re strangers and I can’t change that until my eureka moment.

  I’m at the hotel the guys have been staying at still working on our plan to go back but I’m dragging my feet. I can’t send her back feeling unloved, can’t say goodbye when my emotions are so raw. I shake my head. Man, the fuck up!

  Saunders comes breezing into the room, grabs me roughly and drags me over to his bedroom slamming the door behind us.

  “What the fuck, Saun?” I round on him.

  “Shut up!” He says and starts pacing. “I shouldn’t be telling you this. It’s none of your Goddamn business but I can’t watch this anymore!”

  He turns to me. “You love her?”

  “Saun...”

  “Just answer the question!”

  “Yes! You know I do.”

  “Then sort your shit out. She doesn’t deserve the way you’re treating her.”

  “What the fuck does it have to do with you? Our relationship is none of your fucking business. You’re crossing a line, Saun!”

  “Screw your imaginary line. I just had her results!”

  “What results?”

  “The blood I took a few days ago, I never fast-tracked because she miscarried so I put it aside. When she carried on throwing up though something nagged at me so I ran the blood.”

  “And?” I ask feeling the blood drain from me. I take a seat on the bed.

  “I think she’s still pregnant, Kye. Her CG levels were so high; I can’t be sure until she has a scan but I think she was carrying twins.”

  I sit down on the bed. Twins? Baby, no baby, twins and now one baby? Is that what he’s saying, she lost one but is still pregnant? He’s right she’s been throwing up all hours of the day but I bought his ‘it’s shock’ theory and left her to it because I’m a bastard.

  She suffered horrendously that night and I shut her out focusing on my pain. I never took Saunders advice to talk with her and grieve. We went separate ways because I forced us to.

  “She’s still pregnant?” I ask in total disbelief.

  “I honestly don’t know but for her levels to be that high it points to twins. Her being sick constantly isn’t from a bug or stress I think it’s morning sickness. I need to scan her Kye. She’s fragile right now and if she is still pregnant she needs to look after herself and her body otherwise this one won’t survive either. I’m not sure she’d cope if it happened again. You need to step up. Be the man she needs Kye, you’ll regret it otherwise.”

  “Yeah,” I mumble. “Be the man she needs. I don’t know where he’s gone.”

  “Well find him and do it quickly. I never got what she saw in you to start with,” he tries joking, I think, but I ignore it. My Comm beeps and I see its Trask. I cancel the call, he’s on my shit list for providing Faith with what I’ve been unable to. I’ve been so out of it even my jealousy has lain dormant. He keeps Comming me but I have no intention of speaking to him. Childish? Yep.

  “What do I do, Saun?”

  “Go home. Talk to her. Ask your new friend, Mr. President for access to his scanners. I might be wrong, unlikely as I’m the dog’s danglies but still you need to know.”

  I Comm the President and he doesn’t answer so I sit on Saunder’s bed and try to figure out how I’m going to broach this with her. I’ve been a bastard but I miss her. How do I put right the neglect I’ve given her the last week?

  My Comm beeps again and it’s the President. I answer the video call and his holograph opens in the room.

  “I need your help,” I tell him.

  “A popular theme today,” he muses.

  “What?”

  “I’m aware that you do not trust me fully and I can understand your reticence so as a goodwill gesture, an act of faith if you will, I’m getting in touch to warn you that Faith is here, asking for my help in being sent back to her time.”

  “Shit! Why?”

  “She has her reasons, she’s very despondent and she was sick in my bin. I’m happy to help her. I just thought you would like to know.”

  “She’s pregnant. Do not let her travel.”

  “I know she is, she, however, does not.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Whoever steps over my threshold is scanned before they can get anywhere near me. Concealment of weapons, etcetera but she was concealing something else. I think six weeks along would be my estimation.”

  “Do not let her move I’ll be there soon.”

  “I will not force the young lady to do anything she doesn’t want to but I also will not prevent her from doing what she feels she needs to.”

  “She’s pregnant!”

  “So you keep saying. I don’t understand the relevance, though. Travelling while pregnant in this time is perfectly safe. Imagine the uproar if only un-pregnant people could experience Advancing. It was meant to help the old and the injured get from place to place with less hassle. Pregnant women were in that demographic too.”

  “Did you Comm me just to piss me off?”

  “I Commed you to give you a chance. I can hold her back no longer, she’s suspicious as it is. I’m giving you a head start but won’t guarantee you’ll win the race.”

  He deactivates his Comm and Saunder
s and I stare at each other.

  I Comm Faith – no answer. I send her a hurried message apologising for being a twat, telling her I love her and not to go. Begging for her to give me a chance to make this right. Pleading to let me just see her before she makes a rash decision. A Comm message won’t put anything right and sending it is a cop out but it’s all I have until I can see her face to face.

  How did I let it go this far? How could I let it get to the stage where the only option she feels she has left is to travel back alone. To get away from me.

  Trask Comms again and I reluctantly answer. It’s not his fault, he’s done nothing wrong as far as I’m aware. As soon as it connects he’s yelling at me.

  “You stupid fuck! Faith is with the President!”

  “Tone it down Trask. I know!” I grit my teeth.

  “You know? But you’re still sat on your arse?”

  “I’m leaving now!”

  “Don’t bother. I ‘m already there and I’m dragging her out. This is your job Kye but if you don’t want it anymore I’m happy to take over!”

  “You fucking...” His Comm deactivates and now I’m furious. Did he just threaten to take what’s mine? Does he have a death wish? I knew that lairy fucker wanted my girl and I gave him ample opportunity to swoop in. Does she have feelings for him now? Lord knows they’ve been inseparable lately, spending every minute possible together doing fuck knows what! I left her defenceless against predators and now they’re all circling. Despite anything that has torn us down, I worship her, I seem to have forgotten that recently. She needs to know every day that she’s adored and I promised myself to do that if I got her back. She’s right – I do break promises.

  “Where’s Arlen?” I snap at Saunders. “I need him to override our Comm system and get me a hoverride now!”