Tainted Plans

by Jenn Vakey

  All questions for another day. The only thing I could really focus on was getting Lillith back from them. Making sure she was safe. Then we could figure everything else out.

  “Who is he?”

  He gave me a shrug that radiated with annoyance. “We don’t know what he’s called. The only thing you need to know right now is he’s responsible for your king only having one remaining child.”

  I gasped. I couldn’t help it. I had been expecting something else, like he was assisting the Tainted in the city. Not murder. If what Adler was saying was true, this was the man that killed Prince Gryffin. The reason the king’s eyes had been so filled with sadness.

  “With that marking on your shoulder, you will be able to enter Alkwin,” he stated. My eyes shot toward his. No one was supposed to be able to see the mark in the city. Not without a special light. How did he even know it was there or that he should be looking for it in the first place? Furthermore, why wasn’t he just asking where I got it so he could send in someone else? A Sentry. I was no one. A girl with no training, and without the benefit of a Tainted ability. What could I do? “I will send you with a Haller. You are to get to Alkwin and contact me with its location. If we can get a team inside, we will move in and grab this transgressor. When we have him, you will be reunited with your sister and live out the rest of your days with the Tainted scum.”

  His words were harsh, but he was at least telling the truth. He was going to give her back to me if I did this. And it sounded easy enough. All I needed to do was pay attention to how I got to Alkwin. If he sent a team in to grab this murderer, maybe the others wouldn’t even know I was involved. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad in the end after all.

  “Okay,” I said simply. “I’ll do it.”

  “Very good,” he said, little emotion showing. In fact, he almost looked bored. Like he wasn’t interested in doing this at all. He was nothing more than the middle man, doing the king’s bidding. “Keep the Haller off until you get to Alkwin. I have no doubt that they will check you for signals when you reach the archway.”

  He walked toward me as he said it. I thought he was going to cut me loose, but he didn’t. Instead, his hand moved up to my neck and I felt that same burning sensation again. Felt the same numbing feeling as the world around me started growing dimmer. Then I fell into darkness.

  Again.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I woke up with a start. Part of me thought that it had just been some cruel story to make me think I had a chance before they killed me. But as I sat up, I found myself on the ground between two houses. The same spot Lillith and I had been grabbed from. Standing quickly and dusting myself off, I felt something hard tucked into my pocket. I didn't even question what it was before I pulled it out. The Haller.

  Hallers were communication devices used in Eden, named after their designer, Thomas Haller. I had never had one before. They were something that was given out after the final test was completed. When I looked around and saw my bag wasn't there, I realized it would be the only thing I took with me to Alkwin.

  Taking in a deep breath, I started walking. I didn’t have to worry about being stealthy anymore. No Sentry would stop me now. That didn’t mean that I wasn’t going to hide my route as best as I could. I didn’t want to lead them to the man that would be getting me out. Not if it meant hurting other people. Preventing other people from being able to get out of Eden.

  It took me twenty minutes to make my way to the Laborer’s section and find the house Dallin told us to search for. When I walked behind it, though, I wondered if he told me wrong. Or if I had just remembered wrong. There was no one there. Just a wall.

  “Hello?” I called out quietly, looking up and down the walkway.

  That tightening in my chest started again. How was I supposed to complete this mission from Adler if I couldn’t even get out of the city? Even if there was another way, I had no idea how to actually find Alkwin.

  “Where’s the other?” a voice responded.

  I looked around, but saw no one. It was like it materialized out of nowhere.

  “We were cornered by Sentry,” I said honestly, my voice cracking as it came out. I didn’t have to pretend to be upset. Even though Adler had told me that I would get her back, there was still that sickening feeling that it might never happen. That my sister was lost to me. Forever. “I got away, but they took her. They took Lillith.”

  From the shadows, out stepped a man. He was older than I had expected, nearly sixty. He was also a little heavier than I had been used to seeing, especially for a Laborer. In his light blue eyes, all I saw was sadness.

  “Are you Harun?” I asked timidly.

  He nodded, then held something out for me. It took me a moment to realize what it was. My bag. Not the one I had been carrying with me when we were attacked. The third. The one Dallin had been carrying for us.

  “Is he here?” I asked. “Dallin?”

  He shook his head. “He showed up an hour ago and told me that you had run into trouble. He wanted to wait, but it wouldn’t have been safe for any of us.”

  I sighed, tears filling my eyes. I knew it was for the best, but I wanted to see him. To have him hold me and tell me everything was going to be okay.

  “Show me the mark,” Harun instructed.

  Without questioning the request, I turned and pulled the shoulder of my shirt down. Moments later, a light surrounded me. A blue one. Then I heard him sigh before shutting it off. It was only then that I realized he hadn’t known which one of us I was. He had been hoping that my sister had been the one to escape. The Tainted one.

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” he said. I turned around to look at him, and I could tell that he meant it. “I lost someone myself a long time ago. We were to be married after our tests. But she failed. The last time I saw her they were dragging her away.”

  “I’m sorry,” I responded, knowing the pain he was feeling. And it made me hate them even more. The council, the king. They were the ones that were doing this. The ones that were killing anyone with abilities. I hated myself for helping them.

  “Will I be able to even find it without her?” I asked, taking the bag from him.

  Harun nodded, moving toward the wall. He pushed his hand against it and a click echoed out into the night air. Moments later, a whole chunk of the wall seemed to come free from the rest. When he pulled it back, a hole appeared. It wasn’t large, but still big enough for a person to easily fit through.

  “Walk straight out from the wall, and you’ll find a path heading west,” he instructed, pointing out toward the dense trees ahead. “Do not leave the path, no matter what happens. Do not touch any animals that you might encounter. Don’t eat any food that you might find. Just keep walking. It’s a day’s trek, but it will take you to a giant stone archway. Once you are there, wait. Someone will come for you.”

  “They told us that no one could survive outside of the wall,” I said, looking out into the darkness.

  Harun let out a heavy breath. “Just a story told to keep people from wanting to leave. The last of the original Tainted died out hundreds of years ago. Our people have been going to Alkwin for nearly as long. Just stay on the path and follow the rules I told you. You’ll be fine.”

  I nodded, but I wasn’t feeling reassured. In fact, I was terrified. It was like taking a leap of faith after spending my lifetime being told it was guaranteed to kill me. But so much over the past month turned out not to be the way we had been taught. And I didn’t really have a choice.

  Pulling on the strap of the bag to hike it up higher on my back, I crouched down and stepped through the hole in the wall. Instantly, the ground changed. It wasn’t the stone walkways of Eden. It was dirt, and something that I vaguely remember being called grass. Little green hairs that sprang up right out of the ground. And it was amazing.

  Following Harun’s instructions, I walked straight into the trees. They were unlike the trees in Eden. Those were all fruit bearing. These didn’t appear to have
any food on them at all. They were just trees. Untrimmed with branches shooting off wherever they wanted. And the smell. It wasn’t completely unfamiliar. I had detected it before on the windier days when I walked near the wall. I had never known where it was coming from. From the trees.

  The moon was bright in the sky, which gave me a little visibility. I still might have missed the path had I not spotted something glowing about thirty feet in. It startled me at first, thinking that it was some kind of animal that glowed. Pushing my fears down, I slowly stepped ahead. That’s when I saw it. A large stone with some kind of marking on it. Like the tattoo I now carried on my shoulder, it glowed. This one was green, though, and made with some kind of paint. Oddly enough, the green seemed to match the color of the stone. Was this why people only left Eden at night? Because the markings were only visible in the darkness?

  So I did what I was told and started down the dirt path to the west.

  Now that I was on the correct path, I stopped in a particularly bright patch and lowered my bag to the ground. There wasn’t much in here other than the Healer supplies I had pilfered. No clothes, no food. No water. Thankfully I had some patches that would get me through the day Harun said I would be walking. Not wanting to get caught with the Haller if they searched me, I made sure it was off and tucked it into a hidden compartment in my backpack. One Lillith and I had installed when we were younger so we could sneak snacks into school. It seemed so childish back then, but now I was glad for it.

  After getting the bag repacked, I flung it onto my back and started again down the path. As hard as I tried to remain hopeful, I could feel the weight of everything going on sinking in. Lillith and I had never spent more than a working day apart. I had no idea how long this was going to take, but I had no doubt that it would be at least a few days before I would see her again.

  I wondered what she must be thinking. Did she even know I was alive? Did she know I was on a mission so I could get her back? Or was she just scared, fearing that they would kill her at any moment?

  I had always hated seeing her sad, but there wasn't anything I could do to ease her fears right now. That hurt almost as much as anything else. I should have asked Adler to send her instead. At least then I would know she was safe. Why hadn't I done that? I hadn't even thought about it. I hated myself for that.

  I walked for several hours, not slowing until the sun started peeking above the horizon. I couldn't keep myself from stopping then. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. The sky was colored in pinks and oranges. With it, the animals seemed to come alive around me. Birds chirped, hidden animals chattered. It was amazing. I didn't understand why they had wanted to keep this from us. Wanted us to stay behind the wall when the threats of the original Tainted were gone.

  As the sun continued its ascent, the heat started to rise. It wasn’t long before I could feel my thirst spiking with it. My water bottle, which pulled moisture from the air to refill itself, was in my other bag. I was left with only one option to keep myself hydrated. I pulled my bag open again and removed a hydration patch. It was something we used in the hospital when citizens needed fluids. The gel within it soaked into the skin and produced the equivalent of one of the old saline bags from the past. It would be enough to keep me going until I reached Alkwin.

  After attaching it to my neck, I hoisted the bag back up and continued down the path. I wished Lillith could be here with me. Not just because I missed her. She would have loved to see this. The way the trees moved with the wind. The sounds that surrounded me.

  Several more hours passed, and the sun finally reached its zenith. That meant that I had been walking nearly twelve hours. I was halfway there. Wanting to reach it sooner than that, I started to move faster. First speeding to a light jog, I eventually started running. I wasn’t sure how long I would be able to keep it up, but it should shave several hours off of my trip. Several hours closer to getting this job done so I could see my sister again.

  My legs started to burn as they carried me, but I ignored the pain. I had something stronger to push me. It was all I needed.

  I probably would have been able to keep that pace for a while longer, but I was met by a sudden screech coming from the trees around me. I should have kept going. The sound of it brought me to a stop, though. My heart drumming from both the exertion and the fear of what was hidden just ahead. Then I saw it.

  It started as nothing more than the plants lining the path moving. Letting me know something was there. The path was narrow, no more than three feet wide in this section. Even walking along the edge furthest from the noise would have meant that I was too close. Especially when I saw a tuft of fur starting to emerge from it.

  Harun’s words echoed through my mind. Telling me not to touch any animal that I encountered. Even my curiosity wasn’t enough to make me want to go against that. The only animals we had in Eden were those on the farms. Ones that were bred and raised for food. But this was something different.

  I called out, hoping the sound would be enough to scare it away. That only made it move out faster, stepping into the middle of the path ahead of me.

  It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. Our seventh year we learned about the historical animals of the world in school. I racked my brain, trying to remember them. There hadn’t been anything like this, though. The closest I could compare it to was a creature called a fox. But even that wasn’t the same. Its body was covered in scales, the only fur being on its head and legs. It didn’t resemble anything I had read about. The creature also didn't seem afraid of me. Its red eyes just stared at me, its teeth showing as it hissed and growled.

  “Not good,” I muttered, taking a step back. It was the wrong move. The moment the creature saw it, it charged.

  I screamed, turning and running back the way I had come. Harun hadn't told me what to do in this situation. I didn't know what it was going to do to me, but I knew it wasn't good.

  Staying on the path so I wouldn't get lost, I ran as fast as I could. Even that wasn't quick enough. It took no time at all for the creature to catch up with me. I only realized it when I felt the sharp pain in the back of my leg. So abrupt and painful that it took me down, my body hitting the hard ground with a thud.

  That didn't seem to be enough for the beast. It pounced on me, landing on my chest. I threw my arm up to protect my face, only to feel its sharp teeth sinking into it. I screamed in pain, using whatever strength I could to throw it back. The moment I was freed of it, my hands started searching for anything I could find along the side of the path. When they landed on a branch, I pulled it up, swinging it at the creature as it launched again. The first pass missed, hitting nothing but open air. Not the second. As it drew nearer, I swung again and struck it on the side of the head. The animal teetered slightly, dazed from the blow. That was all I needed. I pushed up and jumped over it. Then I ran.

  I could hear the sounds of it behind me for several painful minutes, but my strike seemed to be enough to make it rethink the attack. Still, even the sounds of it falling behind weren't enough to make me stop running. I needed to get as far away from it as I could. I needed to get out of these woods.

  I wasn't sure how many minutes passed before I realized something was wrong. At first I contributed the throbbing in my head to the exertion of running. But then my limbs started to feel numb. My legs shaking beneath me.

  I looked back to ensure there was no sign of the animal, then slowed to a walk. It didn't stop what I was feeling, though. It only grew stronger with every step I took. Before long, the entire scene around me was spinning and twisting, distorting in a way that I knew wasn’t natural.

  I fell down hard onto my knees, pulling my bag off my back. I wasn't even sure what I was looking for. I didn't have anything to deal with a bite like this. We didn't have those creatures in Eden. All I had were the hydration patches and vitamin patches. So I peeled the patch off of my neck and replaced it, then added the vitamin one. I doubted they would help at all, but at least they w
ould counteract my lack of food and water.

  As the world spun around me, all I wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep. Would the people of Alkwin come looking for me if I didn't reach the archway? Probably not. I didn't even really care. I just wanted to go to sleep, not worry about anything else.

  That sounded so nice.

  But that wasn't right. There was something important I had to do. What was it? I couldn't remember, but I could feel the urgency down deep. Why couldn't I remember? Why couldn't I even remember where I was or how I got here?

  No, there was something too important to forget. Not something, someone. Who was it?

  “Come on, Leeya,” a voice said.

  I spun around, looking to see who was there. I recognized it. Soft and sweet. I knew her. She was… Lillith.

  I smiled. My Lillith.

  “Lil?” I asked, dropping down onto my hands and knees so I could crawl forward. “Where are you?”

  “You'll never pass your exam if you can't beat the endurance portion.”

  I didn't want to take an exam. I had always hated them. But this was different. Bigger.

  My heart started to race as I thought to the exam. It wasn't me I was afraid for. It was her. “You can't take the exam,” I called out, inching forward. “You're different. They'll kill you.”

  But it was too late for that. I could remember it now. The men grabbing her. Her scream when they caught us. They took her. I was the only one who could save her now.

  I had to keep moving.

  It took a lot of effort to stand, especially with the desire inside of me to just lie there and rest. Telling me that everything would be fine if I just took a little nap. I fought the urge and managed to get to my feet. There was just as much energy needed for each step I took forward from there. One at a time. One foot in front of the other.

  The trees around me started to change. The colors growing brighter, greens turning to pinks and blues. Then they just seemed to melt.