Inside

by Kyra Anderson

  “We can hope we get that far,” he said. “I have a few ideas of people who can help us in the Commission. They are in my rotation at school. I will start asking questions to see where they stand.”

  “What classes are you even in?” I asked, curious why I never saw him at school.

  “I’m on a special prep track for political science, and I also study genetics and advanced sciences.”

  “What?” I gawked. “I had no idea our school even offered those kinds of classes.”

  “If I wasn’t in the Commission, I would have liked to have become a doctor,” Clark said sadly. “So it was a good track for me.”

  “But…seeing what they do to people at the Commission didn’t scare you away from science?”

  Clark fiddled with his hands in his lap, nervous.

  “To be truthful,” he whispered, his voice weak, “from a scientific perspective, what the Commission does is fascinating.”

  My eyes went wide and my stomach flipped.

  “That doesn’t mean I agree with what Dana does,” Clark said, raising his hands peacefully, seeing my horrified expression. “But, admit it, Mykail is fascinating. Being able to give someone the ability to fly, to give a human being wings…just imagine the other possibilities.”

  I agreed that it was interesting—it was the method I disliked. Such things were fine to fantasize about, but to actually torture humans and create creatures was nothing short of evil.

  “But Dana is creating an ultimate weapon out of people,” I hissed. “What happens when he achieves it?”

  “I don’t know,” Clark admitted, his eyes on the floor.

  There was a knock at my door that nearly made me jump out of my skin.

  “Yes?”

  My mother opened the door, poking her head in.

  “How are you doing?”

  “Fine,” we both answered.

  “Great. Do you need anything?”

  “No.”

  “Okay,” she said. “I’m going to the grocery with your father. We’ll be back in a little bit,” she explained. “I put Mykail in his room, so he shouldn’t bother you.”

  “Okay,” I said, anxious for her to get out and go to the store. She bid us goodbye once more and then left. Clark and I both listened as the garage door under my room opened. I walked to my window, looking out of the blinds to see my parents drive away.

  As soon as I could no longer see the car, I moved out of my room and to Mykail’s door. He was waiting for me.

  After I let him out, we both went to my room. Clark stood when he saw the experiment and the two nodded in greeting, studying one another.

  “Oh, I remember you,” Mykail said quietly.

  “Hello, Mykail,” Clark greeted. I watched them both carefully, not sure if they were going to get along—there was a nervous tension in the air that worried me.

  “Clark,” Mykail started, “are you serious about wanting to take down Dana?”

  “Of course I am,” Clark answered darkly. “Are you?”

  “I am not like most of the others,” Mykail assured. “I want Dana dead and the Commission taken down. You may know about the Commission, but you know nothing about what it is like to be strapped to the table and made into something that is no longer human.”

  I could hardly bear to hear him speak in such a manner. I could not even begin to imagine the pain Mykail had suffered to become what he was. I could see by the way the feathers on his wings bristled that he was also agitated recalling the painful memories.

  “If you are not sincere in this, then we all may become well acquainted with the feeling,” Clark said seriously, looking between Mykail and myself. “I am willing to help you as much as I can, but we are playing with a very dangerous and brilliant predator. There is no way to be sure that he does not know what we are doing, even now.”

  I turned to Mykail, who also looked at me. I found myself studying his eyes. There was so much pain hidden behind the clear blue color, as well as hatred for the man who had destroyed his life.

  “I understand how dangerous Dana can be,” he said slowly. “I am willing to risk my safety for the possibility of bringing him down. But I do not want to force anyone to fight with me and risk their lives unless they have the desire to see the Commission dismantled, preferably before there is a lot of progress with Eyna.”

  “I do agree with that time problem,” Clark muttered. They both turned to me.

  “What choice do I have but to fight him?” I snarled. I could feel my anger and hatred swell inside of me, nearly bringing tears to my eyes. “If I don’t fight against him, that means I am submitting to being his amusement for the rest of my life. If we don’t fight, there is no way to get out. We may not win, but we need to be sure that, if we do go down, we go down fighting.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The plan started simply. We needed to see how many people we could rally behind our cause. Clark said he would drop hints to other young members of the Commission while I tried to get closer to Dana to learn the layout of the Enterprises lab.

  I went to school as though nothing was different, but there was a part of me that felt very powerful…very alive…

  No one knew I was looking to take down the most powerful man and the most powerful institution in the world. Only a few people would ever know. We were an underground force, just as Thomas Ankell had been with the Children of America as he worked toward changing the people’s attitude toward those in power.

  Things had to change.

  I was quiet and brooding, mulling over different angles of our revolution. Even though Becca had not held a real conversation with me in a long time, she realized I had changed. That week, she finally approached me.

  “Hey, I was going to get a soda…wanna come with?” she asked one day at lunch. I blinked, surprised by the invitation, but realized shortly after that she wanted to talk to me alone, which caused me to scramble to my feet.

  It was Wednesday, which meant most students were watching the weekly soccer practice during lunch, so there were fewer people in the hallways, giving us plenty of privacy to talk.

  “Hey, Lily,” Becca started as we reached the vending machine, “is everything alright?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “You’ve been really weird since you became a part of the Commission. And, lately, you’ve been…” She hesitated. “I know you can’t tell me what happens in the Commission, but I’m getting worried.”

  “I would have talked to you about this already,” I said, “but you didn’t seem to want to talk to me. I feel like you’ve been avoiding me for weeks.”

  Becca turned, her expression startling me.

  “You’re part of the Commission, now.” she whispered. “You’re dangerous.”

  “No, I’m not,” I told her strongly. “Becca, I swear, I would never do anything that would hurt you or any of my friends.”

  “You’re part of the Commission,” she repeated. “You might end up saying something you don’t mean to…it’s just the circle you travel in.” She pressed the button for a soda. “I really wish I could look past that.” Her voice was pained. “But I…I just can’t get over it.”

  “Becca—” I stopped. I wanted to confess my hatred for the Commission and explain how I was planning to take down Dana Christenson, but the words were stuck in my throat, knowing they were too dangerous to be set loose.

  Becca watched me fight with myself for several long moments.

  “What is it that makes all of you Commish Kids so nervous around everyone else?” she asked, confused. “You all act as though you want to say something, but can’t.”

  “That’s because we really can’t.”

  Becca looked over me yet again, leaning against the vending machine.

  “What’s he like?”

  “Who?”

  “Dana Christenson,” Becca clarified, opening the soda as she spoke the name, not meeting my eyes. “We never see him or hear about him, we just…” She traile
d off. “What is he like?”

  I looked at the floor, memories popping into my head of the leader of the Commission of the People without my bidding. I wanted to explain my terrors, how I was too frightened to be alone in case he appeared to torment me. Becca waited patiently for my answer, but I felt as though Dana’s eyes were already on me—even the thought of him made my hair stand on end.

  Becca’s eyes suddenly turned sad. I did not know what she saw in my expression, but something made her suddenly reach out and hug me.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. I blinked, feeling tears come to my eyes, though I was unsure why I was about to cry. “What has he done to you?” she hissed.

  I lifted a hand to my face and wiped away the tears threatening to break loose.

  “I wish I could tell you…” I choked. “Becca, please…I know I’m part of the Commission, but believe me when I say that I would never do anything that would hurt you. I really need some friends outside of the Commission. That place is horrible.”

  “Of course, of course.” Becca hugged me again. “I’m sorry. I was being thick and stupid. I should have seen this earlier.”

  “Lily?” a voice called. I turned quickly, breaking my hug from Becca to see Felicity approach. “What are you girls doing?”

  “Nothing.”

  “I don’t think I need to remind you that there have been some things said at the meetings about how we have to be even more careful of who we speak to,” Felicity said shortly, looking between us. “After all, you don’t want to lose your spot as a favorite, do you?”

  “Why don’t you just back off of her?” Becca snarled. “We weren’t talking about anything that you guys do in the Commission. We were just talking.”

  “Of course you were,” Felicity said, the words leaving an acidic feeling in the air.

  “What do you want, Felicity?” I asked.

  “I was wondering if you had heard anything about Miranda smuggling drugs,” she said. “Actually, I can just ask both of you.”

  “Miranda Jacobs?” Becca asked. “Yeah, right,” she snorted. “She would never do something like that.”

  “Are you sure?” Felicity pressed. She turned to me. “What do you think, Lily?”

  “I don’t know her.”

  “She’s in the Commission,” she said. “Since last week’s meeting, every rumor is being taken very seriously, but I don’t know who’s been spreading this one about Miranda. I want to stop it before it gets around enough to cause some real trouble.” She shook her head. “Maybe you can do some good and use your favorable position to make sure that Mr. Christenson doesn’t hear about it.”

  Felicity turned her back to us and walked away.

  “…I really don’t like her,” Becca said coldly as the other Commish Kid rounded a corner.

  “No one likes her.”

  “What the hell is happening? All the Commish Kids have gotten even nosier since you joined.” She looked at me. “What did she mean by favorable position?”

  I looked at my feet again, feeling my stomach twist around itself.

  “I can’t tell you…at least, not here.”

  I tried to communicate with my eyes that I wanted to talk to her privately, away from the school and away from Archangel.

  “Do you want to come over this weekend?” she asked, taking the hint. I nodded quickly.

  * *** *

  I spent a lot of time during the school week wondering how I was going to get close to Dana and if Clark was finding others to join our cause. At night, after I had finished my homework and my parents had gone to bed, I spoke with Mykail as he drew me maps of what he could remember of the layout of the Commission labs.

  Mykail and I would sit in his room, talking about our plot and the things he could remember from his imprisonment. However, there was little we could plan before hearing of Clark’s recruiting progress.

  Instead, Thursday night I sat with him, looking at my hands nervously as I finally asked some of my burning questions.

  “So…what happened when you were brought into the Commission? How did they find out about your family?”

  He lowered his eyes, taking a few moments to answer.

  “My family had been smuggling drugs over the border, so it’s no surprise that we were caught at some point. But…” He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, his wings bristling. “That night, I was playing a game with my younger brother and sister when the door was broken down. I don’t know, everything happened so fast…” He closed his eyes, pausing.

  “The next thing I knew my little sister was screaming for me but I couldn’t see her.” He rubbed his forehead, closing his eyes and cringing. “I don’t really remember what happened. I was too disoriented…”

  I placed my hand on his and he wrapped his fingers around mine.

  “A lot of it is really a blur,” he admitted. “Once you’re in there…it’s like you’re under Dana’s spell. Nothing really matters down there except survival.” He fixed me with a serious look. “Please…please don’t let yourself get dragged under. If you feel that he is getting too dangerous, just leave and we’ll find another way.”

  I smiled and squeezed his hand.

  “There is no other way,” I told him. “We have to make progress before Dana can finish his work with Eyna, remember?” I looked at our entwined fingers, feeling a smile spread across my face at the sight of our hands together. “I’ll be fine.”

  He squeezed my hand, and then quickly leaned forward and pecked a kiss on my cheek. My eyes went wide, my other hand covering the place where his lips had made contact. He blushed as he retreated, and I smiled, also leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek innocently.

  I had admitted to myself that I had a crush on Mykail, and the fact that he kissed me made me forget that we were about to fight a war against the most powerful man in the country. My heart was knocking too hard against my ribs for me to think about anything other than the person in front of me.

  It seemed like eternity before his other hand moved toward my face. I looked up as his hand came to rest on my cheek, his thumb stroking my skin. My breath was knocked out of me once again by the nervous, but tender, look in his eyes.

  At first, it did not register that he was moving in to kiss me. I stayed completely still, unsure what to do.

  Suddenly, his soft lips were on mine and my eyes slid shut in bliss.

  It was tender and sweet and I wanted it to last forever. I didn’t think about anything else. I didn’t think about the fact that Mykail was an experiment given to us by Dana. I didn’t think about how much danger we were putting ourselves in with our treasonous intentions. I only thought about how nice his lips felt against mine.

  When he pulled away, it was another eternity before I could breathe again. I opened my eyes to see his smiling face. I was sure that I was wearing a stupid, goofy grin, but I didn’t care.

  I was happy.

  “I really like you, Lily,” he whispered. “You’re such a brave, honest, and strong person. I am in awe of you.”

  I flushed crimson at the words, flustered and embarrassed.

  “You should get some sleep,” he declared. “You have Archangel tomorrow.”

  I nodded, still smiling like an idiot, but unable to school my expression.

  I got off his bed, feeling like I was walking on air, my heart still racing.

  “Good night, Lily.”

  I turned around and I flew over to him once more, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him before running to my room, embarrassed.

  * *** *

  I could not stop thinking about the kisses. All through Friday I was smiling, recalling the sweet gestures as they made my heart bloom with affection. It was only when I got home and realized that I had to get ready for Archangel that I lost my grin. I had wanted to talk to Mykail when I got home, but breakfast had been awkward enough, since we could not talk to each other with my parents seated next to me.

  I purposely pres
sed myself to the wall to avoid being seen as a slinked into my room to prepare for Archangel. I was still distracted as I got dressed, trying on different things in my closet, not sure what kind of image I wanted to put forth that night at the club. Frustrated at not knowing what to wear, I started to panic about unrelated things.

  I thought about Dana, about Clark, about us trying to take him down, the Commish Kids always watching me…

  There was danger all around me. I had to be very careful how much attention I attracted.

  I settled on a simple black dress and boots. I had spent so much time trying to pick an outfit that I only had ten minutes to do my hair and makeup before Becca and the others would pick me up.

  I hastily put product in my hair and painted my face, irritated at all imperfections I could not conceal.

  Finally, my phone buzzed, telling me that the others were outside.

  I grabbed my purse, finishing with my lip gloss before scurrying out of my room. A voice stopped me at the top of the stairs.

  “Lily,” Mykail called. I hesitated, feeling a blush rise as I walked to him. He was standing by the bars, looking at me with his beautiful, yet concerned, eyes. “Are you alright?” I nodded. “Are you going to Archangel?” I nodded again. “Are you going to talk to Clark?”

  “Hopefully he’ll have some news,” I said, feeling embarrassment heat in my cheeks as I stared at his lips.

  He placed his hand against the side of my face, causing my breath to halt in my throat as I stared at him longingly. “Be careful.”

  My legs turned to jelly, but I somehow managed to stay standing. I bit my lower lip and took a few deep breaths through my nose. I peeked up at him and then leaned forward, the bars hitting my cheeks and cooling them as our lips touched.

  He smiled when I pulled away.

  “I’m relieved.”

  “Relieved?”

  “I was worried that you didn’t like me in the same way I liked you,” he admitted. My heart melted at his embarrassed expression.

  “I really do,” I assured.