Inside

by Kyra Anderson

  “So, what did keep you?” I pressed as Mark started the car.

  “Okay,” he said, turning to face me fully. “What I’m about to tell you has to be said before we get to the Commission and it is really dangerous information. Mark, radio.”

  Mark turned on the radio.

  “Up,” Clark said, motioning his hands. Mark turned the volume up so that the songs on the radio were loud enough to drown out our voices. Clark motioned me closer and I leaned in so that his mouth was next to my ear, but he still had to talk loud to be heard over the music. “What I’m about to tell you cannot leave this car. We will talk as we did yesterday as soon as we get to the Commission. Mark, if you can understand or hear any of this, radio down.”

  I turned to see if Mark did anything, but he was focused on driving.

  “Okay, good.” Clark leaned back to my ear. “Dean and the others came up to me and told me that they were going to get Miranda out regardless of anything Dana said. They are going to try talking to Dana Saturday at the meeting, but if that doesn’t work, they are going to try and break her out.”

  I gaped openly, feeling a smile creep over my lips.

  “We decided that we would see how things go on Saturday, and if Dana still refuses, we will meet to figure out how to take Dana down and break out Miranda and Julie,” Clark continued. “We’ll see how many people we can get behind us by the Halloween party at Archangel.”

  I grinned broadly, giddy. There were more of us. Things seemed to be coming together on their own without Clark or me putting ourselves in a more dangerous position. The others were going to need us in order to get close to Dana and figure out the best way to take him down so they would think the revolution was their idea. The idea was coming closer to reality.

  I could not say anything for several long moments as I processed my excitement.

  “I know,” Clark said with a knowing smile.

  The rest of the car ride was silent. I was in shock, even the blaring car radio didn’t seem loud as I turned over numerous possibilities in my head.

  We checked in at the Commission and went downstairs. Mark led us through the basement and again stood watch outside of our conference room.

  “…I wonder what Dana’s doing today…” Clark mused. He looked at me, a strange light playing in his eyes. “Wanna take a look at his schedule?”

  We went to his mother’s empty basement office and turned on her computer, Clark quickly finding Dana’s schedule.

  I was shocked to see how many appointments he had for the following two weeks.

  “Wow…who are all these people he’s meeting with?” My eyes scanned the names. “Um…is that the president of France? And the prime minister of England? And…um…is that the president of China?”

  “Yes,” Clark confirmed.

  “I thought it was too dangerous for Dana to leave the country. He’s going to go meet all these people?”

  “No, these people all come to meet with Leader Simon and Dana. I heard last that the president of China was interested in buying some of the Commission experiments for his personal guard.”

  “You can’t be serious…does the whole world know what the Commission does?”

  “I’m sure all the leaders of the world do,” Clark murmured. “But it’s pretty classified information. I mean, everyone in the world knows that the Commission of the People cleans up the population of America, but as for what it does to the people who it picks up, I’m sure only the leaders know the truth.” He glanced over the schedule again. “He looks pretty busy for the next several days.”

  “Does this mean that he’ll be out of the Commission for a while?”

  “Today and tomorrow, yes,” Clark answered. “Friday morning he’s out, but he’ll be back in the afternoon.”

  “He’s completely booked…” I hissed. “What about breaks? When does he eat and sleep?”

  “He doesn’t,” Clark answered, shutting off the computer and walking back to our conference room. I followed.

  “He has to at some point,” I said. “He was just exaggerating when he said that he didn’t sleep, right?”

  “No, he wasn’t.” Clark shook his head. “No one has ever seen him sleep. Sean even told me once that he can’t sleep.”

  “Then, he’s not human.”

  “Just another piece of evidence,” Clark agreed. “He has a heartbeat, he’s warm…and he has one of the three basic human desires…”

  “Sex?” I groaned.

  “Yeah, that one.” Clark sighed as we walked into the conference room again. “Oh, and he does drink alcohol, and he can get drunk.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “There was a big party when the Altereye crew found those new planets. He was pretty smashed that evening. He even had a hangover. That was the most human I’ve ever seen him.”

  There wasn’t much we could discuss until after the Saturday meeting when we would know if Dana would listen to the concerns of the younger members of the Commission. I was able to catch up on my reading and homework and even finish an essay, but everything seemed pointless with the possibility of our revolution coming to fruition. But, I didn’t want my mother sending anyone to breathe down my neck and make things more difficult, so I focused on my homework.

  I had to learn how to balance school and the revolution so that no one would suspect anything too soon—namely, Dana.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I had to get ready for Archangel at the Commission for the first time. Clark told me to bring everything I would need to school and, therefore, to the Commission. Annoyed, I hauled another bag around with my dress, shoes and makeup to school and managed to stuff it into my locker.

  But I wasn’t sure exactly where I was going to get ready in the Commission.

  When I had finished my homework, agonizing over the question most of the day, I finally turned to Clark.

  “Hey…where am I going to get dressed?” I asked. Clark hesitated and then took a deep breath.

  “You can use my mother’s office,” he suggested.

  “What about you?”

  “I just need to change my shirt, I’ll stay in here,” he assured. He glanced at his phone. “We have about an hour, if you want to go ahead and get ready.”

  I reached down to grab my things when there was a knock on the conference room door. Sean stepped in.

  “Hello Clark, Lily.” He nodded to both of us. “I just wanted to let you know that Dana doesn’t want you to ride the bus home tonight. Mark and Josh will drive you and stay outside the club in the car.”

  “Why?” Clark hissed. “It’s dangerous for them to be out like that. What if either one of them gets seen without their glasses?”

  “It’s a chance Dana is willing to take,” Sean said. “I don’t like the idea, either, but Dana insisted.” He looked at me. “You’ve probably seen Josh before, but I don’t think you’ve actually met him. He came from the same hidden society as Mark.”

  “Oh…” I said, not sure how else to respond.

  “Don’t worry, they’re just there for protection, considering what happened a few weeks ago.” Sean looked at both of us and nodded slowly. “Just let Mark know when you’re ready.”

  He stepped out of the room and Clark shook his head.

  “I don’t like this…” He turned to me. “If you want to get ready, go ahead and use my mother’s office. I’m going to see if I can find Dana. I’ll try and get him to change his mind about this. I don’t want Mark and Josh left exposed like that.”

  “Are you sure that’s wise?” I asked. “Confronting Dana?”

  “No,” Clark admitted. “But it’s dangerous enough to have Mark driving me everywhere in the day. If two of them are looming outside Archangel, people will get nervous and then curious. It’s just too dangerous.”

  “Alright,” I agreed. I didn’t want Mark in any danger, either.

  I grabbed my bag, heading to Mrs. Markus’ office as Clark left to find Dana. It eased my
mind that Clark would keep Dana occupied so that the leader of the Commission wouldn’t find me while I was changing.

  I curled my hair quickly and put on some makeup before unbuttoning my shirt. I started on the button on my jeans when a shiver ran up my spine. I heard a click behind me and whirled around to see Dana standing by the now-closed office door, locking it.

  “What the hell are you doing?!” I snapped, snatching my shirt to cover my bra.

  “Don’t worry, Little Lily. I’m sure you have nothing I haven’t seen before.” Dana grinned, stalking toward me. The room suddenly seemed much smaller. The closer he got, the warmer it became and I began to tremble despite my will-power to remain strong.

  He finally reached me, the desk stopping me from retreating further. I stared, unable to take my eyes off his exposed, golden stare. He looked powerful, dominating, and a different heat ran through my body—I needed to find a way to combat his seductive glare. Dana was exceptionally attractive, but the gaze held a different power, a promise that he would take what he wanted, and as much as I wanted to deny it, it was an incredible turn-on.

  He gently tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, his fingertips barely brushing my cheekbone and the top of my ear, igniting sparks through my entire body.

  “You look beautiful, Little Lily,” he whispered, his voice dripping with nectar. My eye lids fluttered, my breath shuddering out of me.

  His hand moved from my hair to my collarbone, his finger ghosting over me, causing my hair to stand on end. His finger pressed into the top of my sternum and slowly descended until it hit the shirt I was still clinging to. Internally, I was screaming at myself to push him away, to stop his advances, but I was a prisoner in my own body. My body refused to move, pleased and excited by his very presence, while every other part of my conscious mind wanted to run away.

  Dana was a drug for my instincts. His presence, particularly his stare, made me want to bow to carnal desires.

  His fingers slowly wrapped in the fabric of my shirt and pulled it away. I did not let go, but I did not hold on to it, either. The fabric slid between my fingers. Every sensation was amplified, and I could almost count the number of threads that passed through my fingers as he pulled.

  He dropped the garment to the floor and smiled, stepping even closer as I hit the desk once again, falling back on my hands. His hands came to rest on mine, pinning me between him and the desk. His leg slipped between mine and I gasped before I could help myself.

  I stared at him, petrified. He chuckled.

  “Are you afraid?”

  Slowly, I shook my head.

  “No?” he pressed, clearly not fooled. I nodded, still locked in his stare. He leaned closer.

  “Why are you afraid?”

  I could not find an answer. I was afraid that he would assault me, pin me down and molest me, maybe even rape me, or take me into the back and test on me because he had discovered my plan of revolution. The frenzied thoughts prevented me from forming the fears into words. I swallowed hard and forced my lips and tongue to work.

  “C-Clark is looking for you.”

  “I know,” he said. “But…” he leaned even closer, allowing me to feel his breath on my cheek as I turned my head, “I was looking for you.” He pressed his mouth to my skin, but did not kiss me. “Imagine how pleased I was at the show you were putting on when I walked in…”

  I struggled, futile against his strong hands. I was hot and flushed, drunk on his presence.

  “That was not a show.”

  “You have natural grace,” he told me, his mouth moving away so he could capture my eyes in that intense stare. “It has been so long since I’ve seen you. I’m sorry I’ve been so busy.”

  “I haven’t noticed,” I snapped. “It was nicer when you weren’t around.”

  “Why?” He pressed forward with his leg and another spark ran through my body as I felt his weight against me. His presence was intoxicating, his faint scent enough to overpower my senses and cause me to lose grip on reality. I felt my skin flush and had to bite my lip to stop the moan that threatened to bubble out from the contact.

  “Are you afraid?” he repeated.

  I couldn’t speak.

  “I have a theory about you, Little Lily…” His hand ran up my side to rest at the base of my neck as he moved his mouth to the other side. I arched my back as his breath passed over my nape, creating more friction against his leg and causing the fire to flare inside me. “You are not afraid of me. You’re afraid of your reactions around me. Everyone is like that at first.” I felt his lips trap my racing pulse. He chuckled, the air moving over my neck.

  “You’re afraid of these feelings…” He grabbed my hip and pulled me closer, his leg rubbing against me intimately. I groaned, my arms going weak as I fought for control of my body. “Why should you be afraid of them?”

  He smiled, looming over me.

  “I already told you, you’re mine. You’re allowed to feel these things with me…” He leaned toward my lips and his hot breath fanned over my mouth. “Soon…you’ll even start to seek them…”

  I turned my head away when he tried to kiss me.

  “Don’t think I don’t know that you and Mykail have been at least eyeing one another,” Dana said. I turned back quickly, unable to stop the immediate fear that bolted through me. Dana looked at my neck and chest and gently splayed his fingers over my sternum. Fortunately, my hicky had faded to yellow and was easier to disguise with makeup, so he could not see the mark Mykail had left earlier in the week. “I was pleased to see that your body seems unsoiled,” he noted. “But, should I check,” he moved his hand between my legs, “everywhere, just to be sure?”

  I shoved him away, finally getting the coordination to move my freed hands off the desk. He backed away a few steps, but he was so much bigger than me, that my shoving had little effect. He sighed, shaking his head.

  “Little Lily, he’s not even human.”

  “And what? You are?” I growled. He smiled widely.

  “Touché.”

  “What are you, then? Are you one of the Machines of Neutralization?”

  He laughed richly. “Of course not. You really should see Eyna, though, Little Lily. He becomes more beautiful every day. I wish I was like him…”

  “If you’re not one of them, what are you? Are you one of the experiments?”

  “And if I was?”

  For some reason, even though the thought had occurred to me before, I was not prepared to believe that was actually the truth. I halted, my jaw hanging open. He laughed.

  “What? Can’t put the pieces together?”

  “You said you worked under Bryant Morris.”

  “I did,” he continued. “There might have been some things that happened in that lab that weren’t put on record, but they had to be tested, and the result is what you see before you,” he motioned to himself.

  “…you opted to be an experiment?” I breathed. Dana walked back toward me.

  “Come now, Little Lily, it would spoil the fun if I told you,” he teased. “You will just have to find out for yourself. I can’t even remember who suggested what test…it’s all kind of a blur…your investigation would be beneficial for me as well.”

  “An experiment of the Commission runs the Commission now…” I chuckled brokenly at the irony. “You are so fucked up.”

  “Ooh, I love it when you use that language.” He glanced at his watch. “You better get dressed. Fucked up or not, I can tell time, and you don’t have long before Mark and Josh will drive you to Archangel. You best get dressed.”

  “I will when you leave.”

  “Why?” Dana asked. “Let me assure you, Little Lily, you have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. And, as I’ve stated, you have nothing I haven’t seen before.”

  “You’re quite proud of that, aren’t you?”

  He shrugged.

  “I’m not proud,” he corrected me. “But, people want me, so I take advantage of that.”

&nb
sp; “That sounds like pride to me.”

  “You asked if I was proud about my conquests, not if I was prideful,” Dana clarified. He stepped forward. “So, you can get dressed on your own, or I can help you.” He reached closer to me and his hands latched onto the unbuttoned band of my jeans. I shoved at his chest uselessly.

  “If you touch me, I will kick you in the fucking balls!” I snarled. He groaned and smiled.

  “Please do,” he hissed. “I love it when you try to fight how much you want me.”

  “I do not want you!” I told him as strongly as I could while struggling to push his shoulders. “I can get myself ready!”

  He backed away.

  “Then do it.”

  I reached for my dress. I decided to put the dress on before removing any other articles of clothing. I slipped it over my hips and pulled it over my chest before reaching under my skirt—my back turned to Dana—and shimmying out of my jeans, being careful not to expose anything.

  Dana sighed.

  “You’re boring…”

  “Then leave,” I snapped, throwing my jeans over the desk as I started to take off my bra. Before I knew it, he was behind me, his hand on my shoulder. He placed a hand against the bandage covering the tracer.

  “This is still noticeable.”

  “You were the one who insisted that I have tracers.”

  His hand drifted down my back and unclasped my bra. I shivered but managed to take it off without turning into a trembling mess. I folded my clothes together and packed my makeup, Dana’s eyes on me the whole time. When I was finished, I turned to him and he looked me over from head to toe. I tried to stand strong while he scrutinized me, but my legs began to quiver. He stepped forward after what seemed like an eternity of standing still.

  He reached to my shoulder and, even though I flinched away, he grabbed the strap of my dress and righted it tenderly, looking at me in the eye with an intimate look that I had me blushing.