Dana smiled wickedly, winking. “I’m a stickler for tradition.”
I took a deep breath, my appetite leaving as my nausea grew stronger.
I looked at my mother.
“I have to finish my homework, may I be excused?” I asked as politely as I could around my clenched teeth.
“Of course, honey,” my mother said out of reflex. I gathered my plate and took it to the kitchen before darting upstairs. I spared a glance at the room at the other end of the hall. Mykail was laying on his side on the bed, his eyes pained as he stared into space, lost in thought.
I ducked into my room.
I sat on my bed and tried to catch my breath, but the panic and disgust was already seated in my chest. Dana was too much to handle in concentrated doses. He was absolutely terrifying. Then again, his personality made a little more sense knowing he had worked under Bryant Morris. Running those horrible experiments at such a young age, he would have had to change to bear up to the gruesome nature of the Commission.
I put my head in my hands, my entire body in panic no matter how I tried to calm myself.
Everything Clark had told me could not prepare me for the reality of Dana. A part of me knew I was in greater danger than I was willing to admit to myself, particularly with Dana’s obvious interest in me. He had something planned. Somewhere inside the twisted workings of his mind, he was devising a way to break me—I could feel it.
“That wasn’t a very subtle exit.”
I scrambled to my feet, nearly screaming. Dana was leaning against my door frame. He stepped forward, closing the door behind him.
The clicking of the latch made my heart pound angrily and my muscles tense. My hair stood on end and everything in my body screamed at me to run.
“What are you doing up here?” I hissed weakly, trying to sound angry.
“Coming to see you.”
“W-What do you want with me?”
He smiled, shaking his head.
“Oh, no, Little Lily,” he said disapprovingly, as if I had made a mistake about which line to say next. “No, it’s too soon to tell.” He tilted his head to the side in a terrifying manner that made me shiver, my heart threatening to break my ribs. “I must confess, I am quite impressed that you were willing to stand up to the other kids in the Commission and tell them that you were sleeping with Clark, but I am not at all happy about the lie.”
He took another measured step forward. My legs hit the bed and I sat heavily, unable to retreat further. He placed a hand on my face, closing the space between us. I was unable to resist the unusual power in his presence.
“However, you are new, and you do not yet know the rules, so I will let it slide this time.”
“…y-you don’t like to share…” I recounted. “Does that mean that you’re going to start molesting me? Like you have been with Clark? That’s how you learned about our lie, isn’t it? You tortured it out of him?” I hated that my voice was trembling even as I accused him.
Dana smiled dangerously and every muscle in my body jolted.
“He’ll tell me anything I want to know,” Dana agreed, leaning closer. I backed away, going back on my elbows as he placed his hands on either side of my hips on the bed, his face hovering over to mine. I was trapped under his energy, hypnotized, unable to move. “I just have to know,” his hand ran up my side until his fingers traced over my neck, “which buttons to push.”
The touch sent a different kind of spark through my body. I looked at him with wide eyes, my mouth falling open.
The seductive power was in his eyes again, pulling me to him as my barriers crumbled. His eyes slowly closed before opening again, the blink cat-like and careful.
“Lie down.”
The voice ran up my spine and I collapsed, losing all strength in my arms from the command. He was in control. He leaned over me, only his hand cupping the back of my neck tenderly, no other part of his body touching mine.
“You are mine, Little Lily,” he breathed. “And you always will be.”
“No…”
“Yes,” he contradicted. He brought his face even closer. I felt his breath on my lips. My eyelids fluttered as I trembled. “That’s it…” he cooed. “I can tell that you’re a virgin.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “You’ve never even been kissed before, have you?”
I could not respond.
His voice turned sultry, dripping with heat and sex.
“Let’s fix that.”
His lips were upon mine, warm and surprisingly soft. With his presence above me, he overpowered all of my senses. My body went hot, fire ravaging my veins. I gasped against his lips and, while my mouth was open, his tongue slipped inside. It was wet and foreign, but I did not care. Overwhelmed, I was filled with a pleasure I never knew existed.
Dana broke away, standing straight.
The rush of air cooled my body and, when my head stopped spinning, I came back to reality. Fear crashed over me and I curled up on the bed, hiding my face in my hands, my brain turning to static as I tried to understand my reaction to the forced kiss.
“I guess I should be careful,” Dana murmured, his hand tracing my exposed calf. I flinched from the touch. “I’ll have to take my time training you.”
Tears pricked at my eyes, but I refused to let them flow while he was there.
“I’m going to ask for a tour of the house,” Dana told me, straightening his tie and moving to my door. “I’m warning you now, I will ask you to join, so don’t break down as soon as I walk out this door.”
He left my room and I felt chills rocket through my body, causing goose bumps to rise over my arms and legs.
I quickly suppressed the swell of adrenaline at his departure, barely holding myself together. The bastard knew I was on the verge of a meltdown and had patronized me about it, telling me so easily not to break down because I would have to show a strong face to my parents so they would not know what had occurred. I refused to let him have the satisfaction of turning me into a blubbering, frightened mess.
I counted my breathing, listening closely as voices moved into the small living room at the bottom of the stairs outside my room.
“Lily’s room is just up there,” my mother’s voice said.
“Could she join us?” Dana asked innocently. The task of walking without my legs shaking seemed impossible but I knew I had to be stronger than Dana’s influence. I had to show him that he would not be able to break me.
“Lily!” my mother called. I took a deep breath, counted to five, and stood, my legs managing to hold my weight.
“Yes?” I called down the stairs.
“I’m giving Dana and Sean a tour of the house. Come and join us.”
“What the hell does he need a tour for? He owns the blue prints to the house…” I sneered to myself.
I walked down the stairs and joined the group, avoiding Dana’s eyes as we moved through the kitchen, living room, into the backyard, and then up the main stairs to the master bedroom and the other guest room.
“Well, you certainly have turned the house into a home,” Dana complimented, stopping at the top of the stairs outside my parents’ bedroom. He turned to where the family photo wall had been established, looking over the pictures with a hint of dark glee in his eyes. I was still angry and frightened from him cornering and kissing me, so every smirk, smile, and blink had me on edge.
“Look at all these pictures…” he chuckled quietly, his voice distant. His eyes stopped when he saw one of the pictures and his face fell. He leaned closer, studying it intently. It was the photo with my father and grandfather with the fish—my dad’s favorite picture.
“My God,” Dana murmured in what sounded like disbelief.
“What is it?” my mother asked.
“This picture of little Tommy and his father.”
“Oh,” my father grinned, “it’s one of my favorites.”
Dana looked it over and then straightened, looking thoughtful as his eyes remained locked on the pictur
e.
“Wasn’t there someone else in this picture too?” He motioned to one side of the photo. “Right here? They’ve been cut out…”
We all blinked, confused.
“No,” my mother said with a gracious smile. “It was just squeezed into a smaller frame.”
“No,” Dana contradicted, “there was another person in the picture.” He looked at it a while longer and then his eyes widened in as he snapped his fingers. “Your brother was next to you in this picture!” he declared, pointing to one side of the photo where my father’s ear had been cut off by the frame.
“No,” my mother repeated, taking my father’s hand. “Thomas is an only child.”
I turned to my father and my heart stopped, my blood running cold. My father was staring at Dana with wide, terrified eyes while the leader of the Commission smiled knowingly back.
“…how…how could you possibly…” my father stammered.
“I research very thoroughly.”
“Thomas, what is he talking about?” my mother hissed, her eyes wide as she studied my father’s expression.
“William Sandover,” Dana answered for him, looking back at the picture. “He was…ten years older than you, correct?”
“Thomas, that’s not true…” my mom said slowly, glancing between my father and Dana, trying to convince herself that she knew her husband better than Dana.
“It’s true, Karen,” the leader of the Commission told her. “Tell them, Tommy,” he urged. “Tell them why you never spoke of William.”
“…well…I-I…” My father was too flustered to speak immediately. “I haven’t seen him since I was eight.”
“Why not?” Dana pressed, his voice turning dangerous and sharp.
“He was disowned.”
“Why?”
“…for…” my father looked at us, pained, “for aiding criminals of the Commission of the People in escaping the country.”
“There you go,” Dana praised my father proudly. “And that was why your mother killed herself, wasn’t it?” he continued. “She couldn’t bear your father disowning his oldest son. And then, said son disappeared.” He stepped closer and the air became colder between the two men. “Do you know what it means when people ‘disappear’ in this country?”
My father closed his eyes, his expression creasing with pain.
“Say it,” Dana commanded.
“It means that he was captured by the Commission of the People,” my father whispered, his voice choked. “Which means…he was made into a test subject, wasn’t he?”
“Yes,” Dana said. “I handled his case personally many years ago. No wonder your name sounded so familiar…”
My father closed his eyes and swallowed hard.
“You were very close to him, weren’t you?” Dana stated, his eyes back on the picture.
My father nodded slowly.
“Huh…interesting that you didn’t do anything to stop your father from turning your older brother into the Commission.” Dana stared at my father for a few moments, before sighing heavily and turning to Sean.
“Well, Sean,” he started, “I think we should go. We have other work to attend to.” Dana put his glasses back on and smiled with a short nod. “We’ll see ourselves out.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Thomas, how could you not tell me that you had an older brother?” my mother whispered. It had taken us several long minutes before we were able to move from the top of the stairs and talk at the kitchen table about the uncle I had never known existed.
“What was I supposed to say?” he asked. “I was eight when he disappeared.”
“Dana said you two were close…” I whispered.
“Of course we were.” My father put his head in his hands. “But you don’t understand what it was like…”
My mother sighed heavily and rubbed her eyes.
“Better late than never, I guess.”
My father looked up at us, pain clear in his eyes.
“I loved Liam,” he breathed. “He was my idol. He was always so loving…he cared about everyone over himself.” My father looked down at the table. “With a father who never thought of anything other than his career and the power he could gain, Liam was the one who practically raised me.”
My father hesitated.
“But they fought almost every day, Liam and our father. Liam was so brilliant and so perfect, my father liked to show him off. Liam hated it. They would get into screaming matches at least once a night, and my father would…well…he’d beat Liam down with his fist if he had to. He wouldn’t tolerate disobedience.”
“…what crime did he commit against the Commission?” I pressed.
My father shook his head, his voice going quiet.
“When the Commission began taking people more forcefully, Liam was at all the rallies against the cleansing. He started smuggling people over the borders for them to escape if they were marked by the Commission,” my father whispered. “That made the fighting in the family worse as our father demanded to know where Liam was sneaking off to all the time.”
My father closed his eyes.
“I didn’t really understand what was going on,” he murmured. “I was too young. I just remember…I remember my father kicking Liam out in the middle of the night after one of their fights…and then my mother and father started fighting…and then we never heard of Liam again.
“I only found out that Liam had been called into the Commission the night before…” My father stopped, cringing at the painful memory. “My mother was screaming at my father about what he had done…that he had called Liam in. The next morning…I found her hanging in the laundry room…”
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this?” my mother breathed, her eyes wide in horror. “Don’t you think this is something your wife deserves to know?”
“I put it out of mind!” my father snapped defensively. “My father used to beat me whenever I asked about Liam. I learned not to think about him.”
“And now we’re in the Commission of the People!” my mother snarled. “What if someone were to find out about what your brother did. Sneaking people out from under the nose of the Commission? It could end horribly for us!”
“Now you want to be accepted by those in the Commission?” my father asked. “What happened to last week, when all you could talk about was finding a way to get out?”
“You’re the one who said there’s no way out!” my mother barked. “We have to adapt.”
“The only danger I really see in others knowing is that Dana would find out. But, lo and behold, he already knows! He’s the one who brought it up!” my father retorted angrily. “And he still wanted us in the Commission. We’re one of his favorites, everyone has said so. He gave us an angel, for God’s sake! My father stayed true to the Commission and reported a man who was dangerous to America. Dana respects that, and the others will, too.”
My mother shook her head, leaving the kitchen.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going out to pick up some things for dinner,” she said coldly, reaching for her purse on the counter.
“What do you want me to say, Karen?!” my father called. “You wanted me to adapt to the Commission? I’m adapting. I am accepting that what happened to my brother was the right thing. It’s over. There is nothing I can do to change it.”
“I’m glad it’s so easy for you,” my mother hissed.
“You’ve accepted the experiment into your home!” my father called as she walked toward the garage door. “You’ve agreed to accept that as the norm! But when I do it, it’s cruel!”
The door slammed shut and my father put his head in his hands.
I remained silent and still. Dana wasn’t even in the house and he was tearing the family apart. I wanted to tell my father what Dana had done to me, but I didn’t want to upset him further. Once again, I could see tears gathering in his eyes. I walked over, hugging him tightly.
“I’m sorry about what
happened to your brother.”
My father hugged me back.
“Thank you, Lily,” he murmured. “Now, I don’t want you to worry,” he said. “We’re fighting right now, but your mother and I will work it out.”
“I know,” I lied. Something told me that it was only the beginning of our family’s fighting.
* *** *
The entire week was filled with tension.
My parents were fighting every day about the Commission of the People. They were careful not to fight in front of me, but I caught bits and pieces of their arguments, which was often worse because I did not know what had started the confrontation. I was sure that the reason they were bickering was because they wanted to fight against the Commission but they were powerless and could only fight one another when their anxiety reached its peak.
School was also stressful. Becca was still acting strangely and I was beginning to get concerned—and annoyed. I fully planned on confronting her at the nearest opportunity. However, the tension in my house and what Dana knew about our family history was more pressing in my mind. I wanted to find Clark during school hours and talk to him, but no one knew where he ate lunch, and I wasn’t brave enough to search the school for him alone.
The final source of tension was Mykail. Dana had been right about one thing. He stared—a lot.
Every time I saw him, he was staring at me. For the first two days, everyone in the family was far too nervous to be around him alone, or without the discipline clicker in-hand. After the second night of all of us being present for the application of the lotion and the delivery of his dinner, we came to the understanding that Mykail was docile. He never fought against us, never spoke, he only stared silently.
Wednesday night my mother was brave and invited Mykail downstairs for dinner, unlocking the cage door and walking nervously in front of him, constantly looking over her shoulder. He entered the dining room slowly, his eyes worried as he sat with us. It was a tense, silent dinner. Everyone only ate half of what they normally would, including Mykail.
But after that night, we let Mykail eat dinner with us every night, all of us feeling that it was more humane. My mother was the one who bathed Mykail and took care of most of his needs. He soon became the family pet. There would be the usual questions almost every day—“Did you feed Mykail?” “Did you buy bottled water for Mykail?” “I’ll bathe him tonight.”
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