The Eve Illusion

by Giovanna Fletcher

  Free. This is freedom.

  For now, I’ll take it.

  6

  Eve

  ‘We’re clear,’ someone calls, as the boat comes to a stop after what feels like eternity.

  Hands find me. I’m guided on to my feet, picked up and moved from the boat to solid ground.

  ‘Tell them we’re here, then leave us. Travel back later when it’s dark,’ she orders.

  The engine gives a little rev before moving off again, leaving us. Before I can allow myself to panic over the silence that ensues, I hear something bubbling beneath us. Water giving way as something emerges from the depths. A stone staircase.

  ‘Come. Tread carefully,’ she says, her hand on my wrist as she guides me on to the top step of the staircase that leads us back down towards the water.

  ‘You can take that off now, Eve. We won’t be seen here,’ she says quietly, gently removing the fabric that’s been keeping me hidden.

  I’ve been under the thick, dark veil for so long that the light seems harsh and bright. My eyes take a moment to adjust, but when they do I get a brief glimpse of the intricately beautiful structure around us. Made from a mixture of iron and stone, the materials work together to create something solid and formidable. It’s a building drenched in historic importance to a world far away from this one.

  Ben – Big Ben. Of course. A memory stirs: I’d asked Mother Nina what she did as a child – I was forever asking about her life before the Tower.

  ‘There was always something to do or somewhere to see. We’d wander through parks, museums, galleries, or sometimes we’d walk up the river, taking in the sights – the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.’

  I remember laughing at the name as she explained the clock in more detail.

  Now here I am, inside it.

  Beside us, bobbing in the water, is another transportation device, a ball of some kind. I take a deep breath, instantly aware of how different the air is here. It isn’t pumped in through air vents. It’s real, damp and thick.

  She’s watching me, I see, her eyes absorbing me in the same way I’ve been soaking up the view around us.

  I look at her, really taking her in. I’ve never met a woman like her before. She’s rugged, her hair cropped short, her hands rough and chapped, her muscles rounded and strong. It’s only now that I realize how similar all the Mothers were: feminine, delicate. Did they have to fit certain criteria to be given their roles? Not one of them was anything like the woman before me.

  Well, except Vivian. There was nothing delicate about her. She was a Trojan, steely and cold.

  Thankfully the woman before me is nothing like Vivian either. She looks stern and direct, but her face breaks into a warm smile when she notices me studying her. Her shoulders lower, her body relaxes. I’m here. Clearly her plan worked – and I’m sure now that this was all part of a plan, carefully orchestrated. Nothing about this woman’s behaviour suggests she grabbed me on a whim.

  She looks relieved. I imagine it’s quite a big deal to kidnap the first girl born in fifty years.

  ‘What’s your name?’ I ask. There are so many questions in my head, and finding out who she is seems a good place to start.

  ‘We should carry on,’ she urges, turning to go down to the awaiting vessel.

  ‘Wait. Tell me your name.’ My voice is firmer than I intend it to be, but it has the desired effect. She hesitates, her foot hovering as she decides whether to turn back to me or continue down the steps.

  ‘Helena,’ she shoots back, her foot resting on the ground.

  I’m hit with a memory of an English class back in my old life, one with Holly at my side. Books splayed open as we read Shakespeare’s play of star-crossed lovers: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Helena. I can’t help but feel bitter that they filled my head with fiction – and provided me with no clue as to what the real world is actually like.

  Helena reaches down and presses something on the wall of the sphere, causing a door to hiss open. I spot a man inside, although he doesn’t come out to say hello.

  ‘I’ll help you in,’ Helena declares, placing a hand on my waist and practically picking me up to get me safely across from the stairs. She joins me with a thud, and the vehicle wobbles. The door shuts and the man next to us goes about what is clearly the familiar routine of checking we’re secure, ensuring the door is sealed and confirming our arrival through some sort of handheld speaker. We’re sucked back below the water – which I can vaguely make out through a thick, murky window as bubbles engulf us.

  I’m aware of Helena’s eyes on me again.

  ‘It’s worth you catching your breath before we go inside,’ she tells me. ‘People will be excited to see you down there. Expect it to feel overwhelming. Even though we’ve warned them to be calm, it’s an exciting day for us all. We’ve worked hard to make this happen.’

  ‘Where are we?’ I ask, trying to ignore the nerves I’m hit with.

  ‘The Deep. Our base. Where we work, sleep and live.’

  ‘Is it safe?’

  ‘We’ve called it home since just after you were born and they’ve never once got near to tracking us down. Doesn’t mean they can’t, of course, but they’ve had no such luck so far. Either we’re doing something right or they’re doing something wrong.’

  I nod.

  ‘The Deep is your home too now, if you want it to be. You’ll always have a place with us. You can be sure of that.’

  ‘And who are you? Why are you helping me?’ I ask.

  ‘We’re your people. Your supporters, campaigners … your loyal subjects,’ she tells me, smiling. ‘We’re Freevers. Free–Eve–ers. I came up with that, a long time ago,’ she adds proudly. ‘We’ve just wanted you to have a choice. The only way you can do that is by knowing the facts, and there was no way you were getting those in there.’ She makes no attempt to hide the contempt in her voice.

  ‘Yes, I started to see that,’ I admit, wondering how much she knows.

  ‘Finding Bram was the best thing that’s happened to all of us.’

  ‘You found Bram?’ I shriek, surprising us both. ‘He’s a part of this?’

  ‘You didn’t know?’ She frowns at me. ‘You really have no idea who we are?’

  ‘None,’ I say, feeling stupid. I think back to the moment before we touched the ground after our jump. Bram was shouting something at me, but I couldn’t make it out. Was he trying to prepare me?

  ‘So Bram knows I’m here?’ I ask.

  ‘Of course … It was his idea.’

  ‘So he’ll be here soon too?’

  Her face twists before she replies. ‘I hope so. Depending on how it’s gone up there. Getting you out was the most important thing. That was the start of putting things right.’

  ‘But …’ I’m unsure what to say. I lost him before, and now my heart has already begun to ache at the thought of losing him again.

  ‘I think it’s time we went in and answered some of your questions,’ Helena says.

  I realize we’ve stopped. ‘Okay.’ I nod, trying to focus. This has always been about so much more than one person. More than him, more than me.

  I jump to my feet with a wobble. It’s time to find out what’s going on.

  This place is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I’m used to large open spaces with trees and bushes – albeit fabricated. I was living high in my pretty Tower, and now I’m down in the depths beneath the city, walking along dimly lit passageways, where everything is hot, close and sticky. The air is moist, the walls lined with beads of sweat. My wet clothes cling to my body as though they’re glued in place.

  Helena stops in front of a door. Looking up at me, her mouth opens to speak, but she appears to stop herself. Instead she purses her lips tightly, bows her head, presses the handle down and pushes forward.

  I see a couple of hundred people in a vast, high-ceilinged chamber, all silenced. They are holding each other tightly, clearly in disbelief. Men take comfort from other men
or older women scattered throughout the crowd. They’re not clumped together or frightened, just leaning on each other for support. All are looking at me with deep curiosity. I take in their scruffy clothes, heavy boots, and grubby faces.

  ‘She’s free!’ a deep voice yells, from somewhere in the crowd, and the room erupts with cheers and laughter.

  The room feels authoritative, as though it’s seen many monumental events in the past. I wonder if any have been quite as big as this one.

  ‘Let Eve speak!’ calls another voice, through the chaos. ‘We want to hear what she has to say.’

  ‘Don’t put her on the spot like that!’ someone else cries, as the crowd hushes expectantly.

  ‘She probably doesn’t know half of what’s been going on yet,’ I hear one woman shout.

  ‘I bet she knows they took her for their own gain, not for anyone else’s. Not for her own good.’

  ‘They stripped her of her rights. Forced her to live in there with them.’

  ‘She’s been that organization’s pawn her whole life!’

  ‘Who knows what she knows?’

  Voices are yelling over each other. Anger flares. Not at me, but at the EPO. The invisible people I didn’t get to see or meet, but who dictated my upbringing.

  I feel a flush of shame. I’ve been so ignorant, my whole life. I never questioned anything I was told. I won’t make that mistake again. From now on, my actions and decisions will reflect only on me.

  Helena stands beside me, her arms raised in the air. The crowd quietens into a respectful silence.

  ‘Tonight is for celebrating what we have achieved today. Tomorrow is for understanding.’

  There are murmurs and nods as the crowd take on board her words. It’s strange watching a woman harness such regard and power from so many without the need to spread fear, like I watched Vivian do so many times.

  A cheer rises as people look past me. I turn to see a group of young men walking through the door, arms raised in victory, all turning to me with nods of recognition. One guy breaks through the crowd and starts walking towards me, his long face breaking into a relieved smile as he opens his arms wide and envelops me in a hug.

  ‘Oh,’ I say, caught off guard.

  ‘I’m so sorry. I’m Saunders.’ He laughs, blushing as he realizes his mistake. ‘We know each other. I know you,’ he stammers awkwardly. ‘I was … a couple of years ago …’

  It takes me only a moment to understand the connection and fit the pieces of this crazy puzzle together. As I look closely at his eyes I see a shape I recognize.

  ‘You were one of my Hollys,’ I say, and he grins with pleasure. But my attention is caught by someone new walking through the door.

  A huge smile spreads across my face. He sees me, and as our eyes lock everything around us falls away.

  7

  Bram

  It’s deafening. My back is pounded with congratulatory slaps and I’m engulfed with hugs from every direction. Tiny soundbites of conversation find my ears – We did it. She’s free. It’s over. It’s just the beginning.

  What next?

  I push through the crowd, deeper into our cavernous chamber beneath the flood. I don’t need to ask where she is: it’s obvious. She’s in the centre of the room, her presence pulling people in, like the sun holding the planets in orbit.

  She has found her place in the centre of our universe.

  ‘Let the poor boy through!’ Helena booms, as she marches through the crowd and takes my hand.

  Without thinking I wrap my arms around her and feel a wave of tension release. ‘We did it.’

  ‘You did it, young Bram,’ she whispers.

  ‘I like the new hair,’ I say, admiring her shaved head.

  ‘Well, I didn’t want to draw any more attention to myself out there. It’s not every day you see a six-foot woman in her early seventies who could kick your arse wandering the streets of Central.’

  ‘Can’t argue with that.’ I smile.

  ‘Now you’d better save her from this lot before she begs us to take her back to the EPO.’

  I glance up and see Saunders pulling Eve in for a hug.

  Idiot.

  ‘Okay, okay, let’s give Eve some space,’ I say, making my way towards her. ‘You too, Saunders.’

  ‘Oh, right, sorry!’ He fumbles nervously and moves out of the way, leaving Eve and me standing face to face.

  Her eyes look into mine. I know what she’s doing. She’s searching for her, the eyes of the one person she trusts – Holly.

  ‘I’m here,’ I say.

  She nods.

  The moment lingers, and there’s a strange awkwardness in the air between us that’s never existed before. Not when I’m Holly. I’m suddenly aware of the noise settling, the eyes around us focusing, the attention, the expectations.

  Shit. I’m going to have to say something.

  I take a deep breath.

  ‘What do we do now, Bram?’ a voice calls from the balcony.

  ‘Er … I … don’t know.’

  Brilliant. Great leadership skills, Bram.

  I try again.

  ‘We know the EPO will respond with full force. They will be searching Central, leaving no stone unturned. Staying beneath the flood is our safest option. I want our surface movements totally locked down. We have all we need down here for now so Central is off-limits until further notice. Eve is safe here and, until we have more information, I want us all to lie low.’

  That was a little better.

  ‘It’s not about what we want,’ Helena calls, turning to face Eve.

  I look at Eve. She takes in the room and steps forward.

  ‘My name is Eve,’ she announces with a slight tremor in her voice. The room erupts into cheers and laughter.

  ‘Why are they laughing?’ she whispers to me.

  ‘I don’t think you needed to introduce yourself, Eve,’ I reply with a smile. I raise my hands and the room calms.

  ‘I’m not sure who you are. I’m not sure where we are. I’m not sure of anything any more …’

  The room is silent.

  ‘… but something about you, about this place, just feels right.’

  They cheer again. Eve has captivated them.

  More questions are hurled at her, and I see the panic flare in her eyes.

  ‘All right, calm down, you lot!’ Helena cries, calling the room to order. ‘Eve needs to rest. We all do! There will be plenty of time to share stories and discuss the historic events of today, but right now we must give her space to adjust to being down here with us.’

  The room bursts into life instantly, everyone trying to be heard.

  ‘You two had better scram or you’ll never get away,’ Helena mutters to us, as she tries to calm the room.

  I nod and reach for Eve’s hand. She pulls it away from me instinctively.

  ‘Sorry!’ we say in unison, then laugh awkwardly.

  ‘I should be the one to apologize. This is a new world for you, Eve. I get that,’ I say, glancing at the excited chaos around us.

  She smiles.

  ‘Follow me.’ I turn … and feel her fingers grip mine. My chest tightens a little, as though she’s taken hold of my heart rather than my hand. ‘This way.’

  I lead us out of the hot chaos of the main chamber and into the sealed hallways of this sunken hideout. Chubs follows, his large frame blocking us from sight as we go. ‘Just making sure you get there with no more hassle,’ he says.

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Chubs, by the way.’ He bows his head at Eve.

  ‘I’m Eve,’ she replies.

  ‘Yes, you are.’ He smiles, studying her face as though she were a work of art.

  ‘Ahem!’ I clear my throat. ‘Shall we?’

  I lead the way, and Chubs falls behind, making sure no one follows.

  ‘Where are we?’ Eve asks, taking in the damp surroundings.

  ‘We’re in a building in the old city. Beneath the flood. Most of it is only used
as the foundations of Central above, but there are a few hidden gems, like this one,’ I explain. ‘I’m just thankful the Freevers managed to find it before anyone else.’

  I twist through the network of tunnels, stepping over tubes and pumps that keep the flood out.

  I glance back and see Eve taking it all in. ‘I know it’s different down here. Hot, damp, dark …’

  ‘Real.’ She adds, ‘I love it.’

  We walk on.

  ‘How do you remember where you are down here? It’s a maze,’ she whispers.

  ‘The pipes,’ I say, pointing out the thin blue one over our heads that I’m currently following. ‘It’s the only way to navigate the Deep. I had to figure that out pretty quickly but I still don’t know the whole place.’

  ‘Where are we going now?’ she asks.

  ‘They’ve had a room prepared for you for a very long time,’ I explain, ducking through a clear plastic divider.

  ‘I see,’ Eve says softly. I’ve not seen her like this before. Uncertain. Nervous. Even a little scared.

  ‘Almost there.’ I open a door into an enormous chamber. The ceilings shoot up dramatically over our heads. Faces glare at us from the rotting paintings on the walls, and the cold floodlights create eerie pools of deep shadow around the cavernous space.

  ‘Oh!’ Eve gasps.

  ‘Don’t worry, it’s not this room,’ Chubs says, as he steps into the chamber. ‘It’s through there.’ He points. ‘This is as far as I’ll come, though.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Eve says to him.

  I walk on, Eve following, and we cross the hall together.

  ‘What was this place?’ she asks.

  ‘They called it Parliament. This was where the fate of the people was decided.’

  ‘Like the EPO Tower of a time gone by,’ Eve notes.

  ‘Yes. Now reduced to a sunken wreck, inhabited by rebels who fight the people trying to decide our fate.’

  ‘I like that.’ She smiles.

  ‘Me too.’

  I open the door for her and let her enter before me. She glances at a small sign on the door – Robing Room.

  Inside, it’s smaller than the chamber we walked through but by no means less grand.