I distracted Clark by asking Mark if he was alright, and then asking Clark to confirm if the experiment was actually well.
“Well, he won’t show me the wound on his leg, so I don’t know,” Clark admitted, glaring playfully at the driver. “I guess we’ll just have to take his word for it. I did give him the painkillers last night and this morning, though, so at least he’s not limping as much.”
“Mark, are you sure you’re alright?”
He nodded again.
“You’re not lying to me?”
He shook his head, smiling.
“You better not be,” I warned. “I will tell Griffin and Tori if I need to.”
Mark laughed silently.
We drove to the industrial part of town, pulling into some old warehouses I remembered looking at when Clark and I were trying to find a place as the base of our rebellion. Those days of awkwardly exploring, unsure if we would be able to complete such a feat, seemed so far in the past now that we had accomplished what we thought we couldn’t.
Mark put the car in park, leaving the engine running as he got out to signal to Josh. I turned in my seat and watched through the back window as Josh carefully maneuvered the car through the narrow space between Mark’s car and the wall of the nearby darkened warehouse. Mark held up his hand for Josh to stop.
The other Eight Group member exited the car and walked to the three graffiti-decorated dumpsters in front of our car. I watched, curious as they both pushed one dumpster to separate them.
“What are they doing?” I murmured.
Mark motioned for the two of us to get out.
I stepped closer to the two dumpsters, shivering as I hid my mouth in my collar, glancing carefully over the area between the rancid dumpsters. A large square grate extended from the edge of the building. Josh removed the cover with little strain.
“Clark,” I laughed, motioning him over, “this is one of the ones that we thought was blocked,” I told him, pointing. “Remember? We could get the grate to move a little, but not enough to get out.”
“The dumpster was over it,” he realized with a smile, shaking his head.
Josh looked at me as he brushed his hands off on his pants.
“Check that way,” he said, pointing the direction the cars were facing. I turned, looking around the alleyway for anyone who might see us sneak Mykail out of the car. Josh turned to Mark and said something with a concerned tone. Mark hesitated and walked over to the open hole, studying it. I was not sure Mykail could fit with his wings, which also concerned Josh and Mark.
Mark nodded and looked at us before nodding to Josh once more.
The smaller member of the Eight Group opened the car door and offered his hand to Mykail, telling him to keep the tarp over him. Mykail stumbled clumsily out of the car and hurried to the space between the two dumpsters, which effectively blocked him from view. Mark helped Mykail down the drain, being sure his wings did not catch on anything. He waited until Mykail had footing on the iron rungs of the ladder before he let him go. Mykail swiftly descended with the tarp into the drain and I smiled, heaving a sigh of relief. Josh closed the door to his car and smiled.
“Show him where to go,” he nodded. “We’ll meet you at the fort.”
I went down the ladder first, meeting Mykail at the bottom, who was smiling, exhilarated by the danger of the situation. Clark joined us and Josh replaced the cover with a loud clang.
“Well, we did it,” I smiled at the both of them.
“Now, we just have to remember how to get back…” Clark laughed brokenly, looking down the pipe where only a small amount of water trickled in a steady stream. “We only took this way once and that was a long time ago…”
Navigating the tunnel was more difficult than I remembered. Clark and I argued about which ways to take toward the fort and continued to get turned around in the false tunnels that led nowhere. Clark and I were getting into heated arguments while Mykail teased us about being an old married couple.
By the time we finally stumbled into the correct passage, I was completely disoriented and had no idea how I would be able to make my way back to the grate when we had to leave. After fifteen minutes of walking, listening to the resounding echoes of the dripping water as it trickled down the middle of the pipe, we finally made it to the large blast door that led to the secondary passage into the fort.
Thrilled to be going in the right direction, the three of us quickly made our way through the smaller passageway and to the door for the dry storage room. We startled one of the girls that was pulling a box off a higher shelf. I heard a crash and a colorful curse before I saw her, picking up the large box that had burst at the side, causing the packages of salt to escape and litter the floor.
“Sorry,” I smiled, helping turn the box on its side, stuffing the packets back inside.
“No, it’s fine,” she assured with a giggle. She glanced at me and I smiled. She looked to be only fifteen. “Oh my God, you’re Lily,” she gasped, a large smile breaking out over her features.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “What’s your name?”
“Katrina,” she smiled. “You probably don’t remember, but you broke me out of my cell.”
“I don’t remember you exactly, sorry,” I chuckled, ashamed.
“No, I understand,” Katrina said quickly. “Oh, it’s great to see you again!” She released the box and lunged forward, hugging me. I struggled to maintain my balance but hugged her back. I looked up at the amused faces of Clark and Mykail as they watched.
“The others will be happy to see you!” Katrina grinned broadly as she backed away and stood. She took my hand and helped me to my feet. She stopped abruptly when she saw Clark and Mykail. Her eyes went wide and she stepped back unsteadily, her eyes focusing on Mykail’s wings.
“Oh my God…”
“This is Clark, and this is Mykail,” I introduced.
“Are you…are you real?” she murmured. Mykail smiled shyly and looked at his feet, nodding. “You’re…you’re an angel?”
“No, just an experiment of the Commission,” he corrected.
“Can I—?” She extended her hand, motioning to his wings. He nodded and she stepped forward, cautiously reaching her hand out to stroke his wings. I watched with a smile. I could tell that Mykail was extremely uncomfortable and nervous about the attention, but I was sure that he was concerned he would frighten her more than anything. She was enthralled by his appearance, a thrilled light dancing in her blue eyes.
“Whoa…” she whispered. She let out a breathy laugh and then pulled her hand back, biting her lip as she smiled at him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be so creepy. I’ll take you to the bunker.”
Reclaiming my hand, Katrina pulled me to the main bunker, where there was a fair amount of activity as groups talked to one another, accomplishing different tasks. A few were washing clothes in a large tub while another group was cleaning up what was left of their morning meal.
“Griffin! Tori! Mark!” Katrina called happily, causing everyone to turn. I was thrilled to see that most of the faces lit up when they saw me and then turned to a look of awe when they saw Mykail. Many started forward in surprise, surrounding us, which made me backpedal against the wall, Mykail ducking back into the storeroom, looking quite frightened.
“Alright, everyone, back up!” Tori laughed, pushing her way to the front of the group. “Let them breathe! You’ll get your chance to meet Mykail in a minute.”
Everyone obeyed, retreating while I let out a chuckle, turning to Tori.
“Welcome back,” she grinned, hugging me tightly.
“Thank you!” I smiled, returning the embrace. “Seems like you have everyone pretty well organized here.”
“Oh, we get along well, that’s all,” Tori downplayed, greeting Clark in the same fashion. She looked beyond us to Mykail, who was looking at his feet nervously. “Hello, Mykail.”
“Hello, Tori,” he murmured.
“Come out here,” she said, motioning for
him to step forward. Katrina got out of the way, mingling with the group of people that had formed a semi-circle around us. Clark and I parted and Mykail took Tori’s outstretched hand.
“It’s alright,” Tori smiled. She turned to the excited crowd. “Everyone, this is Mykail, who I told you about last night. I’m sure that he would love to talk to all of you, but you can’t crowd him.” Tori looked at him with a small, sad smile. “He’s been through a lot, so please be respectful. He will be helping with our rebellion.”
Tori looked over the heads to the strategy room door, which was mostly closed with only a small gap.
“Griffin! Mark!”
A few seconds later, Griffin pushed the large door to the side, smiling as he walked forward to join the group.
“Mykail, it’s been a long time,” Griffin boomed as the crowd parted for him. Mykail looked very nervous around Griffin, more so than being around Tori. He retreated a step.
“Hello, Griffin…”
“No need to be shy here,” Griffin assured, walking to Mykail’s other side so that the winged experiment was flanked by both Griffin and Tori. “Alright everyone, clear a path.”
They started forward as I looked to the strategy room. There were two suit-clad figures watching the people in the main bunker. Mark was leaning against the wall, his arms folded as his eyes scanned the moving group. Josh was standing in the opening of the doorway, also watching before he turned his head and said something to Mark. Mark turned his head, listening to his friend, but he did not move to respond. It was when he turned back to the group that I felt the churning of fear in the pit of my stomach. Mark looked troubled and upset. While his face was not creased with thought, his eyes were cautious, guarded, and worried. Whatever Josh said only seemed to increase his anxiety.
I started toward him and his eyes locked on me from the movement. A small smile quirked at his lips and he waved at me with one hand. I hesitated in stepping closer, getting the feeling that he was trying to keep me away.
Josh said something and Mark sighed heavily, but still did not offer any form of answer to his friend.
I walked to them anyway, where I received warmer greetings from Josh than Mark.
“We were going to look for you,” Josh teased. “It took you a long time!”
“We got lost,” I said with a sheepish smile. “Everything okay?” I asked, looking between him and Mark, trying to sound casual.
“Yes,” Josh laughed, though I could tell it was forced. He turned to Mark and reached over, hitting him in the arm, snapping something in their native language. Mark flinched away from the touch and sighed, smiling at me and nodding.
“I don’t really believe you guys right now,” I tried to tease, but I was legitimately concerned. Josh laughed nervously and Mark’s smile dropped.
“Everything’s okay,” Josh said, giving me two thumbs up.
I turned to look at Mykail, who was surrounded by people.
“He’s popular,” I chuckled.
“He’s the only one who is an obvious experiment,” Josh explained, also looking at Mykail.
“Mark, can I ask you something?” I said, turning to him, though he was still staring intensely at the large commotion in the bunker. He nodded once, only flicking his eyes to me briefly. “If Mykail had been in the cells during the breakout, would you have let him out?”
Josh quickly turned to Mark, and that worried me further. Mark turned his eyes to me, but did not make any effort to communicate. He stared, guarding something behind his eyes. My anxiety peaked angrily. For several long, agonizing moments I was staring into his dark eyes, trying to understand what he was feeling. Though he offered me no explanation, I understood his answer.
He would have left Mykail in the Commission.
“Lily, why?” Josh asked, clearing his throat.
“Mykail is worried about being an outsider…that he wasn’t part of your group of friends, and that scares him,” I elaborated, glancing between the two of them. “How did you choose who to let out?”
“It was difficult,” Josh said. “We had to leave a lot of people…”
I tried to take comfort in that, but I still was anxious. I looked seriously at Mark.
“Do you trust Mykail?’
Mark looked at me briefly before glancing at Mykail and finally over at Josh. He took a deep breath through his nose and slowly let it out, his eyes focused distantly on the ground before he turned them to me, lifting his hand to his right eye and pretending to wipe something away with his index finger.
Be careful.
My heart stopped, halting the blood in my veins.
Mark did not trust Mykail.
What scared me most about the revelation was the understanding that I was more inclined to believe Mark’s judgment than trust the man I had fallen in love with.
Chapter Forty-Eight
As I had suspected, the outing to the fort had cheered Mykail up considerably. I, on the other hand, was now ill at ease. I did my best to hide my anxiety from Clark and Mykail, but since they continued to ask if something was wrong, I knew I was not succeeding in acting normal.
After I had gotten over the initial shock of Mark not trusting Mykail, I began to seriously evaluate my emotions. I trusted Mark more than I had ever trusted anyone and I respected him. I was debating whether to pass off Mark’s distrust as paranoia, or if there was something he could see that merited concern. I wanted to kick myself for so easily becoming suspicious of Mykail and tried to remind myself how often Mykail had helped me plan for Dana’s downfall.
While I was trying to sort out my feelings, I was reminded of the New Year approaching that Wednesday, and the day after meant the return of my parents.
Monday, I was nervous around Mykail. I tried my best to hide it. I passed it off as sadness that my parents were returning and school would be starting again, meaning that I was not as free as I had been during the break, but he could see I was lying. He let it slide.
As we made love that night, I almost had a panic attack, thinking about how Mark did not trust Mykail and what that could mean for us as a couple. Mark knew more about the Commission than anyone else, which meant he probably knew more about how all of the experiments felt. Josh had said it was not an easy decision determining who to break out, but there had been no doubt in Mark’s eyes. He would have left Mykail behind.
Thankfully, Dana was busy working on cleaning up the mess of the breakout and, therefore, did not bother Clark and me at the beginning of the week. The Commission of the People was going to be “closed” for the New Year, which allowed me the entire day with Mykail, watching the New Year’s parade on television while drinking hot chocolate and watching the snow fall. We savored the time together. Even though I was seriously questioning if I could trust Mykail, I cuddled with him, made love with him, and spent all the time I could with him because, the following afternoon, my parents would be home and we would have to pretend as though we were not in love, and not plotting the downfall of the most powerful organization in the world.
The day ended all too quickly.
I had allowed that Wednesday to be the day that I dismissed all my concerns and pretended that everything was normal.
Thursday, though, there was a tight ball of apprehension in the pit of my stomach that made me feel sick. It felt as though I was saying goodbye to my life, the feeling almost identical to the one I had when moving to Central. My parents were returning from Europe only to be greeted by the heightened security and the order to look out for anything suspicious, which meant I had to be more than cautious, even in my own home.
Hearing the garage door open almost made me cry.
Mykail took my hand and squeezed it before standing from his position on the couch and quickly making his way to his room, slowly pulling the door closed as much as he could, considering that the lock was still bent out of shape.
I took a deep breath and waited on the couch in the small living room until I heard the sound of the car e
ngine turn off. I heaved myself to my feet and walked to the door, taking another deep breath before I opened the door.
“Lily!” my father boomed. I had to admit that I was thrilled to see my father’s smiling face. He released the handle of his suitcase as I stepped into the garage. He gathered me in his arms and I hugged him tightly, some tears escaping my eyes. “I missed you so much!”
“I missed you more,” I murmured.
“Oh, sweetheart, don’t cry,” my father grinned, backing away and thumbing the tears away from my cheeks. “We’re home, now.”
“Don’t I get a hug?” my mother asked.
I was less enthused about seeing my mother.
However, I smiled and nodded, hugging her tightly. For that moment, it felt as though my mother was my mother, that she was not having an affair with the man I had sworn to kill, and not the woman who was hurting my father with her infidelity. I was genuinely pleased to hug her again.
“Seems like you missed us.”
“Of course I did,” I chuckled, sniffing and pushing new tears away as I walked to the back of the car and helped them unload suitcases. I complained about them buying rocks in Europe with the weight of the luggage. They told me it was all papers from the trip and souvenirs.
I helped them unpack in the master bedroom, reveling in the illusion that we were a normal family once again.
“How was Europe?” I asked. I was not really interested in what they had done in Europe as much as I wanted to keep the old feeling alive.
“Amazing,” my father smiled.
“When we weren’t in conference, we toured all the old castles and buildings that survived the wars. You remember doing that, right?”
“Not really,” I chuckled. “I was eleven when you took me to Europe.”
“We’ll have to go again,” my mother declared, turning to my father with a large smile. My heart soared. My mother was looking at my father with love in her eyes. Maybe they had made up on the trip and perhaps rekindled their relationship.
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