I looked around, searching for some sign of what could be making the noise. Why leave it on if this was an abandoned base?
That’s when I saw it, up above the gate. A security camera and it was moving.
“Guys!” I said. I pointed up to the camera. “Someone is in there.”
The others gathered around me.
“Please let us in,” I said. “We’re human.” Mostly. “We need your help, please!”
The camera was pointed right at us, there was no way they couldn’t see us. If they weren’t opening the gate it was because they had no interest in taking in survivors. Some safe haven.
“Maybe we should just go,” I said after several long minutes.
As we turned away from the fence, there was a buzzing noise and the gate slowly trundled open. Relief flooded through me, we were safe.
We moved inside, heading for the main building. The door opened on the building and a man stepped outside dressed in full military uniform. Enzo immediately stopped walking and snapped off a salute.
The man assessed us silently, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses. His dark hair was cut impossibly short and I had no doubt that he had earned the stripes on his uniform.
“Name and rank,” he said to Enzo.
Enzo reeled off his rank and stood to attention. I wondered if we should be doing the same.
“Why are you here, Private?” the man asked.
“Sir, we are a group of survivors from LA. We heard that this was a safe haven for humans.”
“This base isn’t equipped to house civilians. It is a waypoint to another location.”
“So, we can’t stay?” Rat asked.
“Sir, we’ve been walking for days, hiding out at night,” Enzo said.
The man sighed. “You may come inside and rest. One night only.”
It was better than nothing I suppose.
“What’s your name?” Rat asked.
He stared down at the boy. “You can call me the General.”
“General what?”
“As far as I know, I’m the last general left alive, so the General will do.”
He led us inside the building, where we were met by two soldiers with guns. “Show them to the bunks. They can take a shower and sleep. I’ll debrief you all later.”
The soldiers silently led us through the base. It was huge and I could see plenty of soldiers moving around. It made me feel better to know that so many people had made it.
Now that we were inside the base, the noise from outside had lessened.
The showers were individual cubicles, which prevented Lydia from seeing my back. I washed quickly, dressing without getting fully dry.
After the shower, we went into a room with two bunks in it. Lydia and I would be sharing, while the boys would have another room. As I lay down on an actual mattress and not the hard floor, I didn’t care who I was sharing with. I closed my eyes, feeling some of the tension leave my body.
I didn’t realize that I had fallen asleep until Lydia shook me awake. “Hey, the General wants to talk to us.”
Groggy, I sat up. “Is he kicking us out already?”
I couldn’t have been asleep more than a couple of hours.
“I don’t know what he wants. Let’s go find out,” she said, leaving the room. Running a hand through my hair, I followed her.
The General was waiting for us in the mess hall, with a couple of armed guards by his side. I wondered if they were here to escort us out. The others were gathered too.
“Did we do something wrong?” I asked.
“No, I said I would debrief you.”
“Oh.”
“As I said at the gate, this is a halfway point. We have a bunker set up with survivors. There isn’t a lot of room left, but we should be able to get you in. It will take a few days to arrange a safe path.”
A bunker? Like underground? I felt a flicker of fear at the thought of it. I couldn’t go back to being locked up and with all those people, sooner or later one of them would figure out what I was.
“What is the situation here, Sir?” Enzo asked.
“We’re a stronghold of seventy men with the aim of eliminating as many Fae as possible. We have come up with several weapons to aid us in the fight. We have also developed a beacon which cause pain to the Fae when they hear it. It is harmless to humans however.”
I saw Alwyn glance my way, but I kept my gaze straight ahead. I was right, it was something only Fae and my half Fae ears could hear.
Just stay calm, they don’t know anything.
“Sir, I would like to stay here and assist you rather than go to the bunker,” Enzo said.
“We want to stay too,” Lydia said.
“Not me,” Alwyn muttered, putting his hands up.
“I will consider your request, Private, but the rest of you will be going to the bunker.”
He left the room, with Enzo on his heels. Lydia looked livid, but what could she do?
It seemed that our futures had been decided for us, once again. I didn’t know whether I would be going to the bunker or not, but for now, I wanted a nap.
Chapter 19
I slept through most of the night, waking early the next morning to find the room empty. Lydia must have gone to breakfast or was busy drooling over Enzo. I was glad that she was going to be sent to the bunker. Her obsession over Enzo was bordering on nuts, he deserved better.
Like you?
I pushed that thought away. Yes, my attitude toward him had changed, and yes, I was starting to like him, but he wasn’t interested in me. He wanted to be a soldier, that didn’t leave any time for the rest of us.
After another quick shower, made easier by the fact that I was alone in the bathroom this time, I tried my best to tame my hair. Funny, before all this I never would have left the house without my eyeliner and my hair looking perfect, but it hadn’t crossed my mind once on our journey. I don’t suppose it mattered anymore.
I plaited my hair, leaving it to air dry, then headed for the mess hall for some breakfast. They were serving porridge which normally I would avoid like the plague, but right now my stomach didn’t care what went in it. I dumped a few sugar packets into it to give it some flavor and devoured it.
There were a few soldiers still eating, most of them stared at me. I kept my head down, concentrating on my food. I noticed that there didn’t seem to be many women soldiers around.
When I was finished, I returned my bowl and headed out of the mess hall. I tugged on the lanyard around my neck, now would be a good time to see if I could find a computer. I stopped the first soldier who passed me, a young guy with blond hair and freckles.
“Excuse me, I wanted to know if there are any computers or laptops here?” I asked.
The soldier gave me the once over. “You know there’s no Instagram anymore.”
“I’m not interested in going online, I need something to read a flash drive.”
“Oh. Well, you need permission.”
“From who?”
“The General. I doubt he would let you though. The computers are being used for research purposes and there are none going spare.”
I walked away, there had to be a laptop somewhere. I needed to see what was on the drive, especially if it told me more about myself and what I could do.
I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and I collided with someone.
“Oh, sorry,” I mumbled, then I realized it was Enzo. He had a new change of clothes and his hair had been given a buzzcut.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, just a bit lost. I like the new look.”
“Thanks. What are you looking for?”
“A laptop?”
“I know the General has one, but he’s in a meeting at the moment. I could ask him when he comes out?”
“Yes, that would be great. Thank you.”
He smiled at me and it amazed me how relaxed he seemed.
“You seem so much happier,” I said.
“It feels good to be part of something again,” he said.
“You weren’t part of something with us?” I asked.
“Well yes, of course, but here I can do some real good.”
“You did do good. You saved us all.”
We stopped in the corner near some pipes. “I did what anyone would do.”
“I think we know that not everyone would do what you did,” I said, thinking of the boy who tried to rob us.
“Well now you can take care of yourself,” he said.
“Thanks to you.”
He actually looked embarrassed, it was cute.
“What are you going to do now?” I asked.
“I want to go back out, patrol with the other soldiers, help save others if I can. At least we’ll be well armed. They have some prototype iron-based weapons that I’m dying to try out.”
“Oh, so you won’t be coming to the bunker?”
He shook his head. “No, but at least all of you will be safe.”
“I don’t know, I think I’ll miss our little…group.” I know we weren’t together very long, but we worked well together.
“Me too.”
He leaned closer to me. Oh my God, is he going to kiss me? His lips pressed against mine, surprising me. He likes me? It seemed impossible, but I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity, I kissed him back.
His arms went around my waist, but then he abruptly pulled away, his face flushed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“No, it’s fine. I didn’t know that you felt that way about me.”
“Yeah, well, when you’re not being a pain in the ass, you’re actually pretty great.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I feel the same way about you.”
His face lit up, but he tried to act cool. “Uh, great. Look I have to meet with the General, but could we…talk? Later on?”
I nodded. “Sure, I’d like that. I’ll be in my bunk.”
As he walked away, the soldier I had been speaking to earlier approached me. “Hey, here’s an old laptop you can use. It isn’t great, slower than hell, but you should be able to check your files.”
“Oh, thank you.” I took it from him. It was gray and weighed a ton, but it had a USB port so that was all that mattered.
“Don’t thank me, thank the General. It seems you have a fan.”
The General was a fan of mine? Why? He didn’t seem too friendly earlier. Whatever, if it got me access to a computer, I wasn’t complaining.
I walked back to my bunk, lost in thought. Enzo kissed me! I couldn’t believe it. I had no idea that he thought of me like that. Did I have to go to the bunker? Perhaps I could stay here, make myself useful. Then reality crashed down on me. He would find out what I was if I stayed with him.
That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the time you have before you leave. I had hidden the stumps so far, I could do it a while longer.
I placed the laptop on the table and booted it up. Removing the lanyard from around my neck, I plugged the flash drive in. Maybe now I could get some answers.
“You just couldn’t stay away from him, could you?” said Lydia, barging into the room. I quickly closed the laptop, moving around the desk.
“What are you talking about?”
“Enzo!” she snarled.
I sighed. “Not this again,” I said, turning away from her.
She shoved me violently, making me trip over my own feet and I went sprawling.
“What the hell?” I cried.
“You kissed him!” she hissed.
“He kissed me,” I said, getting to my feet. Before I could recover, she ran at me, slamming me into the wall behind me. Pain shot through my back as the stumps were hit.
Lydia grabbed my hair, yanking hard on it. She dragged me out into the hall, while I fought against her.
“Ow! Get off me, you crazy bitch.”
She brought her knee up into my gut and I doubled over, gasping in pain. She was going to do some real damage.
I straightened up and blocked the next blow, punching her in the solar plexus. She dropped to the floor.
“Just stop!” I screamed at her.
She recovered fast, a look of fury on her face. I turned, ready to get the hell out of there, when she grabbed the hood on my hoodie. I heard the fabric rip as she tore it right down the middle.
“No!”
She grabbed my arm to stop me from running off. “What the hell?”
She could see the bandage under my top and the bulges from the stumps. “Please, Lydia, don’t!”
She ignored me, pulling the bandage down to see what was underneath. Her face went white.
“No, it can’t be,” she whispered.
Enzo, Alwyn and Rat came hurrying toward us. “Lydia, what is going on?” Enzo demanded.
She moved aside to let them see my back. “Look, she’s one of them, she’s a Fae.”
Chapter 20
“She’s one of them,” Lydia said again, disbelief in her voice, but a triumphant look in her eyes. She finally had something on me, something to keep me away from Enzo for good.
I quickly pulled the ruined hoodie up to cover my back, tears falling. They were looking at me like I imagined they would. A mixture of shock, confusion and horror.
Whatever we had been through meant nothing now. I was an outsider, one of them. I tried to avoid looking at Enzo, he seemed the most shocked. Shock I could handle, I couldn’t bear to see hatred there.
Alwyn disappeared into my room, while Rat stared at his shoes.
“I can explain,” I said, then fell silent. How the hell could I explain this? Any of it?
“You were pretending all along,” Lydia said. “What were you trying to do? Find out our weaknesses? Oh God, you wanted to be brought in here, didn’t you? To find the bunker with the humans so you could kill them.”
“What? That’s insane. I’ve never hurt anyone. Enzo…”
“No!” Lydia stepped between us. “You’ve told enough lies. You don’t get to talk to him or any of us ever again.”
“Please, Lydia. I’m not like them, I’m like you,” I said.
“No, you aren’t.”
“She is, actually,” Alwyn called from the room.
Lydia’s head whipped around. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s all here on the computer,” he replied.
The others filed into the room, while I lingered at the door. Alwyn sat at the desk, reading the information from the flash drive.
“She’s only half Fae. Apparently, some doctor was doing experiments and he created a half human, half Fae child. She was raised as a human, but they were keeping records of pretty much everything she has done since she was born.” He looked up, the computer light reflecting in his glasses. At least he didn’t seem angry, more curious than anything.
“I only found out before the Fae escaped. I was normal before that, but it seemed to trigger something in me,” I said quietly.
Lydia pulled the laptop toward her to read it for herself. Her lips moved as she read. She looked up and frowned at me. “That means nothing. She is still a Fae.”
I was never going to win her over and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to, but Alwyn might listen. I turned to him.
“I didn’t know what I am. It must say that.”
Alwyn nodded. “It does say she was kept in the dark so they wouldn’t skew the data.”
“So what? It doesn’t matter if she found out five seconds ago, it doesn’t change what she is!” Lydia cried.
Alwyn ignored her and carried on reading. “There’s several mentions her of royal blood. Do you know what that’s about?”
I shook my head. “You don’t seem too surprised,” I said.
“I had my suspicions, I read the letter you wrote to your mother.”
“You had no right,” I said.
He shrugged. “Guess we all have our
secrets.” He returned to his reading.
Lydia looked ready to attack me, while Enzo hadn’t spoken a word yet.
“We should tie her up, at least,” Lydia said.
Enzo glanced at me, then walked out of the room. Lydia ran after him.
This can’t be happening, I thought. I’ve lost everything.
Rat looked up at me, he was clutching the box with the pixie in it. “Are you a good Fae or a bad Fae?” he asked.
“I’m not…I’m not bad, Rat. I swear.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but the pixie started going berserk, shaking the box violently.
“What’s wrong with him?” Rat asked.
I took the box and place it on the table, removing the lid. The pixie saw me, then dropped to his knees, bowing his head.
“What’s he doing?” I asked.
“I don’t know. He seems to like you,” Rat replied.
I carefully lifted the pixie out of the box and set him on the table. He immediately started bowing again.
“Why are you doing that?” I asked.
He made a noise, but I didn’t understand it. We couldn’t ask him questions if he didn’t understand English. Wait, he did understand us, it was us that didn’t understand him.
Crouching in front of him, I said, “You understand what I’m saying, don’t you?”
He nodded his head. I can ask him yes and no questions.
“Why are you…?” I paused. How could I phrase it so he could answer?
“Are you bowing because she is royalty?” Alwyn asked, pushing the laptop aside.
The pixie nodded vigorously, pointing at me.
“Royalty, that’s ridiculous,” I said.
“Is she related to the Queen, the one in charge?” Alwyn asked.
Again, the pixie nodded.
“No, I’m not related to that thing!” I snapped.
“Have you seen her?” Alwyn asked.
I suppose there was no point in lying, the truth was out. “I saw her. In my head. I was at Stonehenge right before the Fae escaped.”
Alwyn sat back in his chair. “Did you let them out?” There was no accusation, just a question.
Bloodlines Page 9
