They nod.
I nod, knowing they had to have some dignity. “If the entire group does not finish first, there is no finishing. You will run this course until the sun comes up tomorrow. If you see your teammate falling behind, treat them as you would your twin and help them.”
The captain prepares to shoot the gun, and I move out of their way. This first race speaks volumes for us. Though they aren’t being graded, their placement shows on day one to determine who has the strongest team. I do not like losing. I stand back, watching my newly minted subordinates take off after the gun fires again.
Marc’s familiar silhouette takes the space beside me. I peek at him from the corner of my eye.
Cory and Luke have been saying I stare, and I don’t want to keep that idea going. I try not to look, but I can’t help it.
He stands with his arms folded in front of his swollen chest, chin extended with his head slightly tilted back. Those shadowed eyes lower until he looks at me. I turn away.
He moves closer. “Hey.” His husky voice is raspy and deep.
“Hi. Your group finished?”
“Yes. How are you?” We avoid looking at each other, my gaze stays fixed on the course.
“Fine. You?”
“The same. You and Cory have something?”
Wow, what a direct question. “I have nothing with anyone.” I try to seem as casual as possible, but sometimes, the façade is hard to maintain.
“It doesn’t come off that way.”
“Why are you concerned?”
“I’m not, only asking a question.”
“It doesn’t seem like just a question.”
“It is.” He gives me one last glance and walks away.
I turn, watching him. He doesn’t look back. I suppose I want him to look back at me and maybe be concerned about Cory and me.
Speaking of Cory. “Good run?” He once again stands too close.
“It was.” I take a step back.
“You are really hard on your group.”
I throw my hands on my hips. “Yes, like pulling out my gun and putting a bullet in the skull of a girl and her sister because they believed they didn’t belong.”
“Exactly.” He nods. “That harsh. Like shooting someone because they don’t like you.”
Defending my decisions, I bat back, “I didn’t kill her.”
He shrugs one shoulder. “You had no reason to.”
“If I wanted to, it would have been reason enough.”
Cory steps in front of me, inches from my face. “Are you voicing your opinion, insinuating your superior was wrong?”
“No, not wrong. That’s on you, you’ll have to answer for that.” I step back, giving myself some space. “Just trying to get you to see I’m a nicer person than you.”
“I doubt that. But later, can we talk? Without Luke and, um, everyone else.”
I meet his eyes. “There’s no place to talk without everyone else. And we have nothing to talk about.” In every crevasse of this place, we’re being watched.
“We have plenty to talk about, and there is always some place to go.”
“I’m your subordinate, Cory. I can’t.”
“You can.” He looks over my shoulder. “But later, we’ll talk.” He jogs away, off behind me.
I scan the course, searching for my group. They’re climbing the rope and are ahead, for now. It’s clear I have a lot of work to do to make sure my group and I stay at the top of the leaderboards.
Chapter Ten
We’ve successfully made it through our first week of Separation. The routine is pleasant, I’m used to it. But I miss doing things like showering and eating at my leisure. I remind myself that this is what we’ve looked forward to for so long and I shouldn’t complain. It will get even easier soon.
I lift my gaze from my dusty boots to Jord pacing the stage. He says, “There will be blood tests in the next hour. These tests will check your immunity to certain diseases you may come in contact with during the war. If your tests come back affected, you will undergo a series of treatments designed to boost your immunity. Some of the things you will go up against will be like nothing you’ve ever seen or experienced. Shortly, virologists will come to administer vaccinations for suspected viruses and diseases you may come across. It shouldn’t happen, but if the vaccination makes you sick,” Jord’s head bows as he walks from one end of the stage to another, “I hate to say it, but that is the end of your mission.” He lifts his head. “For you and your twin.”
“We should elaborate, General, so they know what’s at risk.” His sister stands. The obscure expression he gives her reveals he doesn’t see the relevance in informing us. “They are already unaware of what they are going up against and why they’re here so early. Tell them why they need the vaccine at least. They are not like the others and should know.” She strides toward the rear end of the stage.
Silence falls over the room. Our attention is on the twins as we await the reveal. While curiosity isn’t frowned upon, we are trained to not question the motives of our superiors. When they say jump, we jump. When they tell us to take vaccines without knowing why or what they may do to us, may it even lead to death… We take the vaccine.
Jord paces the stage twice before saying, “The vaccination is supposed to keep you from changing or, for a better word, transforming into whatever,” he says the word like he doesn’t even know, “those things are. If you are not strong enough, two things happen.” He turns on his heels, starting back at his pace. “You are instantly weakened, and your twin cannot heal you. It works too fast. You die in less than five minutes.” He makes another turn. “The second you turn into one of them, a drooling, bloodthirsty, mindless monster, we will kill you. The upside to this is your twin will live. However, the likelihood of one twin surviving is rare; if one twin is unable to take it, neither is the other.”
Seits walks to the middle of the stage, cutting off her brother’s pacing. “Any who cannot respond?” she asks calmly, looking us over.
No one answers.
“Okay,” says Jord. “Now, respond!” His command is loud and deep with authority.
“We understand!”
“Each of you, gather next to your twin for vaccinations. Once administered, each one of you will fight a battle, two versus two. Expect to battle to your last. This will be for fight preparation.” He jumps down from the stage. “We will keep it simple in the first round; girls will fight against girls—the strongest of the girls. Boys will fight against the strongest of the boys.”
“And who will the strongest boy and girl fight against?” someone from the crowd asks.
Jord snorts a chuckle. “If they can keep it up after fighting all of you, they will go against each other.” He heads down the aisle. “Once finished, meet us at the rings.”
We all find our twin if we aren’t seated beside them already. I leave Cory for Luke, who I’ve been avoiding all day so I wouldn’t have to see the revulsion in his eyes after seeing me talk to Cory.
Watching my steps, making sure to not step on anyone’s feet, I collide with Marc. “Hi,” he says when I look up at him, just a couple inches taller than me, only a few inches away.
“I’m sorry.” I take a step back, almost tripping over someone’s foot. He and Cory are so different. He makes me feel something, something deep in my stomach that causes me to swallow hard and my words to get tangled up in my throat. I want to avoid his eyes and these odd feelings, but at the same time, I want to accept them.
“Don’t sweat it.” He side-steps, and I accidentally match him as I’m trying to move around him. We both go for another side-step in the same direction, still blocking each other’s paths.
“I’m sorry, again,” I mumble when he grabs my shoulders and moves me to the left as he takes a step to the right.
He nods. “It’s nothing, Kylie.” My name dripping from his tongue makes me shiver. He makes it sound strong, like everything else about him. As I watch him walk throu
gh the rows of tables to his brother, I search for a word for the emotion I’m experiencing and can’t place it. He stops and looks like he’s about to turn around.
Crap. He probably feels me staring a hole through his back. I whip around to charge across the room, and I bump into Cory.
I push him. “Watch out.”
“You walked into me, Ky.”
“You should’ve moved if you saw me walking.”
“I would have,” he nips my chin with his crooked index finger, “if I didn’t want you to walk into me.”
I laugh, pushing him out of my way. “Watch out before my brother puts your head on the point of one of those flagpoles.” I gesture to one posted outside the door.
“I’m not worried about Luke. What’s up with the tussle between you and Marc?”
“No tussle. We happened to be in each other’s way.”
He twists his lips to the side. “We can talk later?” he asks after staring at me for five seconds too long.
“We’ve talked.” I don’t have to look to know Luke’s staring at us. “I don’t think we should keep talking.” Last time I agreed to talk with him, he tried to kiss me. That’s against the rules, and with Cory being in a position of power, he shouldn’t have crossed that line.
He smirks. “I meant with words.”
“I’d prefer to not have that kind of talk now or in the future,” I mutter.
“Ky,” Luke calls. I knew it.
“I’ll get back to you.” Leaving Cory, I rush to Luke’s side. “If you die after you get this shot, I’m going to just kill myself,” I say as I sit.
“Me too. If I turn into something else just shoot me, okay?”
“Yes, and you shoot me.”
“You know it.” He sits.
No way am I living without my brother. No him, no me. “What do you think it is?”
“It has to be bad for them to go to the extent of administering vaccinations.” He watches some girl walk past before he shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “I’m just ready. This petty training isn’t enough.”
“You will like the rings he was talking about. Sounded like you might be able to beat the crap out of a few people.”
He grins. “Yes,” he says excitedly. I accommodate his smile.
“Me too.”
His smile fades as a thought takes its place. “They better have you as the strongest, Ky.”
“They will, Luke, don’t sweat it,” I reassure him.
“Excuse me, Lukahn and Kylie?” A small woman in green scrubs interrupts us. She holds two syringes full of clear liquid with tiny blue balls in it. The topped needles are both wide and long, and the syringes are almost an inch in width.
“Yes,” I answer for us. She steps forward, taking Luke’s arm. My hands shake, and for the first time since the incident with my uncle, my stomach drops and my blood rushes. I’m nervous; a pinch of fear makes my palms sweat from the thought of losing Luke. I’d never reveal this aloud, as I am a Creation. Creations do not know fear; we do not have feelings, I recite.
“I will insert the needle directly into your vein,” the woman states. “You will feel a pinch, and burning is natural. But if it stings, constricts your body, or your vision fades, say something.”
“What does that mean? What if that happens to him?” I ask in a rush, holding her hand as she prepares to push the needle through the thick blue vein of Luke’s right arm.
Her eyes pinch with pain. “Um,” she mutters.
“Ky, calm down. You’re hurting her,” Luke says.
I let go after pushing the hand holding the needle away from Luke. “My apologies. If any of those things happen, what does that mean for him?”
“It could indicate a change or failure, maybe both.” She adjusts. “If you will excuse me, regardless of your questions, I still have to administer the vaccine.”
I scoot closer to Luke, staring him down as he watches her. The corner of his eye twitches at the insertion of the needle. The woman pushes the funny looking blue-balled liquid into his arm. His vein expands, blackening.
I panic. “Why is that happening? Why is it turning black?”
“Ky,” Luke says, trying his best to conciliate me. “Did she say anything about being worried about black veins?”
“No but—”
“So why are you worried about black veins?” he asks in an even tone, causing me to question my panic.
“Sorry… Um…” I gawk, taking in his eyes as the black of his irises are filling with color. I grab his face in my hands and turn it left, right, then left again. “Luke, your eyes are being infused with color.”
“That’s a good sign. It means he’s withstanding the serum. He’ll survive,” the woman says happily.
“They’re a cold blue,” I tell Luke.
He tries to move his head out of my hands, but I don’t let him. “Blue?” he questions in an innocuous tone.
“Yes, they are.”
“Okay, all done. You’re next, Kylie,” she cuts me off.
“Why are his eyes different?” I hold his face, unable to look away from him.
He grabs my hands. “Ky, calm down. I’m okay.” His chilled eyes almost sting me. “Go, so we can get this over with.”
“I can’t look away from your eyes. They look weird and don’t blend well with your light brown hair and face.”
“Maybe your eyes will turn a color, and you can get a mirror and stare at yourself.”
The woman’s warm hand grabs my arm. “It is likely. It happens to all Creations who get the serum when their bodies accept it. When it’s not accepted,” she rubs her thumb over the bend of my elbow, “they turn red or stay black.” She pulls a rubber tie from her pocket.
“What are you going to do with that?” I’ve torn my eyes away from Luke.
“I tie it around your arm to push your vein out. It slows the blood flow and makes it easier to locate. I’ll remove it after I stick the needle in your arm.” She ties it as she speaks. She pulls the syringe back out and takes the top off. “What I told your twin goes for you, too.”
I nod, watching the needle prick my arm. It hurts. A lot. Luke made it seem like it was only a small pinch. She pulls away the rubber tie and slowly pushes the serum in. My vein turns black too. My blood is rushing. The burn she mentioned is slow to start and then takes over, leaping flames searing my flesh. It’s nauseating.
“Look at me, Ky.” Luke rubs my shoulder, sensing my tension.
I meet his eyes, getting lightheaded. My head spins, and my eyes lose focus. It isn’t instant, but they regain it. “I—”
“Shh,” he cuts me off. “The burn is bearable,” he says, hinting at something else. His eyebrows are high, eyes wide. He grabs my head as I droop to the side, forcing my focus on him. My eyes roll around. “Yes, she’s fine. The burn caught her off guard.” I hear him say when he moves his hands from over my ears to my cheeks. “Tell her you’re fine, Ky,” he says, nodding once.
I nod, trying to gather my words. He slowly lets me go, nodding again. “Yes,” I say to her. I clear my throat. “I’m fine,” I say firmly. “Are you finished?”
“I am. Lastly, I need to check a couple of things on both of you, and then, you can leave.”
I need to throw up. My body feels heavy. Maybe I’ll pass out. “Can you give me a minute?” I ask, after feeling like I swallowed oil.
“Unfortunately, no. If you are not feeling well, we can take you away to run some tests.”
“No, I’m sure she’s fine,” Luke says for me, grabbing my shoulder. “Tell her, Ky.”
My hands shake, becoming clammy. I grab hold of the bench to stop the tremors. It’s sweltering hot in here. My mouth waters. “I’m fine, I’m sorry, I just need to use the bathroom.” I cringe as my stomach cramps.
She pulls a flashlight from her pocket. “That will have to wait,” she says kindly. “Lukahn, please open both eyes wide.” She and Luke seem to shake in my vision. I need to get a hold of this before she h
as to look me over. “Okay, Kylie, now you.”
I brace myself, breathing through the need to throw up. “Okay.” I hold my breath.
She kneels in front of me, shining a light into each eye. “Your eyes seem to be having a hard time focusing, Kylie. Are you sure you feel okay?”
“Yes,” I say sternly. “I feel fine.” Creations don’t lie, she has to believe me.
She straightens, stuffing the flashlight back into her pocket. “Good, and for the record, your eyes match your brother’s. Have fun with your new looks.” She walks off, her steady steps failing to match her perky tone.
I grab Luke’s arm and tug him as I rush from the building, hopefully not gaining any attention from anyone. We run out of sight.
I buckle over and throw up whatever is damaging my stomach.
Chapter Eleven
It’s all blood. No food. Possibly some stomach acid, burning as it charges up and out.
Luke rubs my back, and I go again.
Straightening up, I use him as leverage. I’m feeling only a little better. Coughing, I hold my stomach, ready to spew again at any minute.
“Here,” he says, handing me his scarf. “Are you okay?”
I take it, covering my mouth. Coughing, I say, “I don’t know.”
“Let me look at you.” He rubs my neck.
I smooth my hands over my hair, take a few deep breaths, and face him. “What do I look like?”
“Same. But nauseated, with ice-blue eyes.” He feels my forehead. “Ky, if you turn into something else, I’m going to be mad as hell because I’ll have to kill you. Tell me you are okay.”
“Hit me. So we can see my reaction.” I wipe my mouth again, not feeling well at all.
“Where?” he asks, shaking out his hands.
“It doesn’t matter,” I say before buckling over to throw up again.
Something’s wrong with me. I don’t know what that vaccine did, but this is awful. I cough as I wipe my mouth, standing back up.
“Okay, you ready?” Luke cracks his knuckles.
“No.” I grab my forehead, feeling clammy. Sweat has beaded along my hairline and my knees shake. “I feel horrible, Luke.” My hands are freezing to my overheated face.
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