"Regardless of who disobeyed the rules, that oath needed to be broken," he said. "My brother and I were kept in terrible conditions. We were beaten and caged."
"You can't blame me for those abuses. That was not my doing," my father protested.
I sat up from my seat and walked in between them. He wouldn't listen to Lucian, but he might eventually listen to me, his only daughter. "No one said this was your fault. When I brought you up, he defended your character, Dad. Even when he told me about his mother's death, he said it wasn't your wrongdoing. Give him a chance."
My father walked to the front of the RV and slammed his palm against the dash. He wasn't going to hurt Lucian. He was tough, but that wasn't his M.O.
I took another step forward and lowered my voice. "I promise, Dad. This is good. What we have… it's real."
My dad could hardly look at me, but his tone was changing. I was getting through to him. "How am I supposed to say no to my own daughter? Without you, I have nothing."
He turned, and tears fell from his eyes. It might have been the first time since Mom died that I had seen him cry. I ran to him and threw my arms around him. Our relationship was changing, but it was a good thing. It was time for me to lead. "I'm an adult now, Dad. You need to let me make my own decisions."
"It's… difficult for me," he admitted.
I smiled and wiped his tears away. "It's going to be okay. Want to know why? Because I've been taught by the best," I said.
"I think you've taught me more than I've taught you," he said.
Kissing the top of my head, he held me tight before allowing himself to let go. What would happen to us as a family once I grew up wasn't a topic we ever discussed. His lessons were always centered on staying prepared. But once I felt a certain type of love, I felt that I needed to keep it around me. If the world was really coming to an end as he said it would, I needed to have a child to continue the thread of life. Otherwise, what was there to live for?
"So this is it?" he asked. "You're leaving me for good?"
I untied Lucian's ropes, and he rose from the chair, standing behind me. I grabbed the hunting rifle from the wall rack. "You think I'd leave you? You're coming with us."
He looked at the floor, lost in shock. It was as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Somehow, he seemed to know I'd say that. "It's beginning…"
His words shocked me to my core. "What did you just say?"
My father stepped back and looked startled. "Your mother was an incredible woman. The best there ever was," he muttered. "When she was on her deathbed, she told me things. Weird things that seemed impossible to know. She told me this was how it would begin."
"The end of the world," Lucian said.
"Impossible," I said. "No. It can't be true. She couldn't have known."
As I looked at them both, searching for answers to an incredibly complicated puzzle, I felt absolutely lost. The words from her tape echoed inside of my mind. "There's a sanctuary… Eyes on the prize, kiddo," I whispered. "What did Mom mean?"
My father pulled out his old wallet. It was full of pictures I hadn't seen in years, but there was one photograph in particular that he wanted to show me. It was an old image, taken years before I was born. They looked so young, happy, and free.
My mother was wearing her lab coat. The triangle-shaped Onyx Laboratories logo stood out like a sore thumb. Who were they and what did they want with my family?
"What is this?" I asked.
"Look," he said.
He turned the picture over, revealing a small note. It read:
I’ll meet you on the other side of the barrier, critter.
Love, Juliana.
My stomach flurried with both sickness and excitement. Then, the anger overtook me. He had held onto this note for my entire life, and he never thought to show me. "God, none of it makes any sense!" I yelled. "Are you telling me that Mom died for a reason? Because I can't believe it. I won't."
"I don't know why she died," my dad said. "I just know how. I have to wake up every morning and trust that it all served a purpose."
I wanted to do more than scream. I wanted to run as fast as I could, far away from this place. Away from all of the deception.
My dad closed my hand over the picture. "Following you any further is not an option. I have to stay back," he said.
Of course, I protested. We had just worked everything out. As much as I thought I had learned, I still needed him near me. "Tell me why. Tell me, Dad."
But he didn't have any responses that would satisfy my melancholy. He gave me more of the same. "You need to be the one to find the answers. If I follow, Micah will find you. I can't let that happen."
"Dad, no," I pleaded. "You can't stay."
He pulled out his 9 mm, cocked it, and stuffed it into the back of his jeans. "I'm sorry, critter. I truly am. But I need to help you both get out of here. When I think it's safe, I'll come find you."
"Lucian…"
Lucian placed his hand on my shoulder and looked at me stoically. He was my hero. I knew he would protect me, but I felt the pain and distrust, all the same. "We have to go now," he said. "It's time."
What if everything was connected? Would it change the minds and hearts of the ones who’d experienced and lost because of it?
For me, it only made it hurt more. The idea that my mother might have left us for some higher purpose was somehow far too disastrous to face. I didn't believe that was how the world worked. I believed bad things happened because nature was unjust in its quest for change.
I was floundering in the selfishness of my loss. But Lucian wasn't going to let me stay there.
Lifting me up, he nodded at my father and walked out of the RV. "See you on the other side," he said.
My father grabbed his shoulder and sighed. "Wait. You're going to need this." He handed Lucian a bag of supplies and weapons. "Promise me you'll keep her safe."
"I promise."
Although I cried, screamed, and tried to kick from his arms, he wouldn't let me go.
This was the end.
The end of the world.
Lilly
What ground was there to stand on if the center gave way to darkness? This place was my home, my shelter, and my battleground. But the war had been lost by both parties.
The two families, born of disaster, succumbed to the pressure of Lucian and I's will. The indifferent hand of nature had destroyed their cabin. Next, I said goodbye to our RV and prayed that my father would stay safe. Lucian was right—it was time to go.
We had been walking for hours, and it didn't look like we were getting anywhere nearer to somewhere safe. We hiked down a substantial cliff, moving away from any landscape that I knew. I was lost, and I was sure Lucian was as well, but we kept moving like something would eventually jump out at us. This was our pilgrimage.
As we made our way to new refuge, I thought of our hunters. Kahn and Micah. Yes, there was so much to learn still, but I couldn't raise my voice about it. The mood was heavy and somber. Shit, I could barely think about our love and the possibility of a pregnancy.
Eventually, we found a new section of forest. He paused and examined the area. "Did you know this whole time?" I asked.
Holding my hand, he squeezed and glanced back. The woods were silent, and a thin yellow mist covered the sun. What was happening to the world? How could we let it get this bad?
"Your mom…" he paused. "She was the one who told us where this place was."
I had gotten over the initial shock, but it still hurt to think about. "Is that a yes or a no?"
"A little of both," he said, continuing forward through the dense brush.
"I don't understand."
He pulled a machete from his bag and swung at the heavy branches in front of us. The blade went through the leaves effortlessly, producing a white sap.
The plants over here were different. They were overgrown and wild. The silence of the space was threatening. He was taking me further and further away from the comfo
rt of my home. I hurried along and tried to make sense of what I used to call my truth.
"I've spent countless nights thinking about the stories she told us. I was young, and the incident just happened," he said.
"The car accident," I muttered.
"No. There was something else that happened on that day," he said.
"Great. More chaos. It never seems to end," I said.
"Chaos is man's perception of beauty and perfection. Everything is connected, Lilly. I truly believe that," he said.
I wasn't sure what to believe, but I knew I had missed my chance to turn back. Wherever he was taking me to was off the grid. My fate was in his hands now.
We reached a dead end of tall trees and thick shrubs. It looked impossible to continue forward, but Lucian used his blade to hack at the plants, revealing a small metal sewage tunnel. "This is it. Our escape."
I bent down and looked through the dark passage. My heart started to pound. It looked familiar. "How did you know about this?"
Lucian stood above me. "I'm surprised you don't remember. This is how we came here."
Shit! Did everyone speak in riddles around here?
I was speechless. The temptation to run back to the trail was strong, but as I looked back on our path, I saw nothing but the green of potentially poisonous plants. I could hear the strange calls of birds, the nightmarish screams of nature's predators.
Lucian had already ducked inside. "You coming?"
I counted to five and made a decision. I lowered myself inside. "You better not get me killed," I said.
He laughed, but there were no promises. Death was everywhere. We had to be careful.
For what had to be around ten long minutes, I followed him through the tunnel. As I crawled away from the light, the darkness expanded around me. One by one, strange images appeared in my head. Suddenly, I could remember my mother before her hospital stay. Just bits and pieces, but there was something there, buried beneath the surface. She was an enigma to me, a sophisticated woman who treated me with love, warmth, and grace. I wanted to believe she was with me. That she’d never really left.
Unfortunately, the darkest moments stuck out the most. There was the image of my father crying in his room. I could just barely remember when he told me we were leaving. Mom wasn't coming home. Not for dinner. Not for Christmas. There wasn't going to be any kindergarten, and I wasn't going to get the chance to grow up around friends or loved ones. Within one day, it was all taken from me. Taken from us.
Like the dark rainclouds above, those memories blocked out any hope. Those memories wanted to break my spirit. I couldn't let them win.
There was a light at the end of the tunnel. Finally, I could see the faint outlines of a structure. Cement and brick, broken and barely standing. Yes, it was some sort of haven.
"Lucian, look," I said.
Lucian cocked his head to the side and nodded. He slid out and jumped to his feet. "We've made it, critter."
I crawled out after him and gasped with surprise at the sight of the structure. Leaves and moss covered the wall. The area itself was absolutely massive. A small pond sat still and unmoved. We appeared to be in a small courtyard. What in the world was this place, and why did nobody tell me it existed?
I walked around the front, lost in wonder. "It's sort of beautiful," I said. "I can't believe I never knew this place existed."
"I haven't been here in ages," he said.
"Tell me what happened," I commanded. "I'm ready."
Lucian found a small piece of cement and sat down. He did not mince words, and I was grateful for that. "Your mother worked for Onyx Labs with my father. They were both given great freedoms," he said. "They were allowed access to a variety of viruses that threatened the planet. Their instructions were simple. Find the cures."
I swallowed, but my throat felt so incredibly dry. "Did they… did they find them?"
He raised his hands in front of his face and clenched his fist. Sighing with displeasure, he shook his head. "They did not."
Lucian set his grief aside and continued the story. "One night, my father was required to stay late for work. Apparently, he had hit a breakthrough in his testing. He was convinced he was going to change the course of history forever. But something happened on that night. An accident—it changed everything. It ruined everything," he said. "I remember it so clearly. I was waiting for them to finish, so he could take us home. My father was in the sample room with your mom. I was the one who answered the phone. The police told me what happened. It was akin to getting shot in the solar plexus. I collapsed. I screamed. And then, like a set of falling dominoes, a chain reaction occurred."
I was completely stunned. I could barely get my next question out. "What happened, Lucian?"
Lucian became angry. He suddenly stood and started to walk toward the pond. He looked down at his reflection and roared, breathing erratically.
"I was the one who caused our lives to crumble," he said. "I disobeyed the rules. Crying for my father, I ran into the room to get their attention. What else could I do? I can remember my father turning, wearing the suit he's kept with him all this time, and in his hand was the virus."
And suddenly, I knew what had happened. The chain reaction that caused our lives to change forever; it all had to do with that car accident. My father killed Lucian’s mother, and the hurt ricocheted across us all. "You were infected."
He nodded, chest pumping with air. He gritted his teeth and said, "It contaminated us. The whole fucking building. Most of the scientists died. Your mother held on for dear life."
My heart felt cold, like it had just stopped within my chest. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, and my vision seemed to wax and wane. It wasn't his fault. He was just a child. My anger was directed at the world. Why did it have to be like this?
He lowered his head and continued. "The car crash. The incident. Everything is connected," he said. "Everything comes undone to realign once more, just as it always has. That’s what she told me," he said. "Each of us reacted differently to the virus. My father underwent a terrible scarring, ruining his dapper face and swaying his charm forever. Your mother seemed to age one year, every day. My brother and I were the lucky ones. We mutated. Our bodies turned on us. We became monstrosities. In the hospital, government agents guarded our room. We were threatened with tests of all kinds. The public could not know what had happened in their laboratory, they warned. Your mother was the only one who cared for our wellbeing. She was an angel who seemed to be given a gift from the heavens. But that gift could not last forever. At least, it couldn't last in this world. Perhaps she’s elsewhere now, but I can't be certain."
"What gift could she have been given?” I asked, still terribly unable to piece everything together.
He looked up at the sky. "The gift of sight. She told us she could see the future," he said.
Lucian turned and saw the look of disbelief form on my face. He took my hand and brought it to his chest. "You do not trust me," he said. "But I’m telling you the truth."
I shook my head and glanced at the broken structure. The paint was weathered, revealing the harsh reality of what this place really was underneath. I looked past the cement and saw that a section of caution tape was still left wrapped around the west wing of the premises. There were still even some clothes left behind, half-buried in the barren soil. The facility bore all the signs of an evacuation.
I knew that Lucian was telling me the truth, but it wasn't easy to accept. The sight of this place first gave me hope. Within minutes, I felt more alone than ever. The world was gone. The past was gone. She was gone.
But I had him.
"It's not that I don't trust you. I do, Lucian. It's just a little hard to take."
He breathed and looked up into the yellow sky. The story had taken me so off-guard that I forgot what was happening around us. The slow decay of a planet I wanted to love was right in front of me. It was happening, albeit slowly. Somehow, that was the least of my worries.
"More riddles," I said. "It's stupid. It's so fucking… pointless!"
"It's hard. This whole life is rife with pain. But we came through that tunnel to find our truth. Both of us," he said. "And right now, sitting before the grace of your beauty, I know that I love you. It's the only thing I can hold onto. Please, stay with me on this journey."
I looked into his eyes and saw through to his soul. The human in him was good, but he was forced to live a life of obscurity and pain. Sometimes, people needed to spend time in the darkness to find the light. Sometimes, it was the one thing that could bring that good out.
My life was a constant struggle between finding myself and finding solid ground. I’d waited for the end moment for so long. I was scared I wouldn't be strong enough to withstand the chaos. I leaned my head against his shoulder, and I could see how wrong I was. I could be strong. I could withstand anything if I believed in something.
If I believed in us.
I could hear my mother's voice. I could feel her speak through me. "Nothing is a mistake," I said. "Everything is an opportunity."
It was a similar philosophy to what my father believed. “Fear is the catalyst for taking control of your life.” I had always focused on that fear part, but that was an emotion I was willing to fight against. My father didn't understand the entire truth. There was no controlling anything, for time controlled our every move. We couldn't stand in the way of it, so we would allow it to flow freely.
Temptation: A Dark Sci-Fi Romance (Alpha Unknown Book 3) Page 7
